Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to Resign

The Associated Press reports Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will step down from Congress this week. Giffords reportedly wants to focus on her recovery from the shooting in January 2011 that shocked the nation.

The Arizona Democrat was shot in the head at point-blank range as she was meeting with constituents in a Tucson grocery store. Six people were killed in the rampage and 12 others were wounded.

Giffords made a short return to the U.S. House last August to vote for a bill to raise the debt-limit. At the time, Giffords said she wanted to cast her vote in person because she “could not take the chance that my absence could crash the economy.”

Mark Kelly, Gifford’s husband, retired from he U.S. Navy in October. He had previously stepped down NASA’s astronaut corps, after piloting the space shuttle Endeavour on its final flight.