Giffords SOTU ad: ‘What is Congress afraid of?’

Former Rep. Gabby Giffords’s gun control group will air a TV ad demanding action on background checks during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

Americans for Responsible Solutions, the group founded by Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly after Giffords left Congress, will air the ad nationally during President Obama’s speech.

{mosads}In the ad, Giffords says members of Congress are afraid of the National Rifle Association.

“What is Congress afraid of? Nine out of 10 Americans support background checks. They make it harder for criminals and the mentally ill to get guns. Congress is afraid of the gun lobby. Tell Washington it’s too dangerous to wait,” she says in the ad.

The ad comes a year after Obama focused much of his last State of the Union speech on calling for more gun control. Final efforts to pass background check legislation fell flat after a bipartisan bill backed by Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) couldn’t muster enough support in the Senate.