Gabby Giffords, Jay Inslee promote gun initiative at Seattle rally

Former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who has become a leader in the fight for stricter gun laws since surviving a 2011 mass shooting in her home state, helped lead a Saturday rally in Seattle in support of Initiative 1491.

Known as the extreme risk protection order, I-1491 would let family members, law-enforcement officers and others ask a judge to keep guns out of the hands of someone deemed a danger to themselves or others.

The stop was part of a 14-state tour by Giffords, co-founder of the gun-violence-prevention group Americans for Responsible Solutions, to boost support of gun laws in several states before the November elections.

The Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, which organized the I-1491 campaign, had raised nearly $4 million as of Friday in support of the measure.

Gun-rights groups have expressed concerns about due process and possible abuse of proposed protection orders.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, also on the Nov. 8 ballot as he seeks a second term, appeared with Giffords at First United Methodist Church.

Giffords has made a hard-fought recovery, and endures some lasting physical effects of a gunshot wound to the head. Six people were killed and 13 wounded in the shooting in a Safeway parking lot. Jared Loughner, a man who had been diagnosed with mental illness, is serving a life sentence.

This story was originally published October 22, 2016 at 8:20 PM with the headline "Gabby Giffords, Jay Inslee promote gun initiative at Seattle rally."