Neel Mehta
Former Rep. Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords and retired U.S. Navy Capt. Mark Kelly have formed a coalition of retired military officers that aims to urge political leaders to help prevent gun violence by addressing loopholes in laws and regulations on gun ownership-related background checks.
Giffords and Kelly, also a retired NASA astronaut, named the members of the advisory committee of the Veterans Coalition for Common Sense in a news release published Friday on the Americans for Responsible Solutions’ website.
The coalition will also work to facilitate partnerships within the veterans community on mental health and suicide prevention as well as provide stakeholders and lawmakers with the training and resources to avoid firearm-related violence.
The members of the group’s advisory panel include:
- Carlos Del Toro, retired U.S. Navy commander
- Claudia Kennedy, retired U.S. Army lieutenant general
- Dave Korus, U.S. Air Force veteran
- David Petraeus, retired U.S. Army general
- Eric Olson, retired U.S. Navy general
- Evelyn “Pat†Foote, retired U.S. Army brigadier general
- Gail Kulisch, retired U.S. Coast Guard captain
- James Arden “Jamie†Barnett Jr., retired U.S. Navy rear admiral
- James Hill, retired U.S. Army general
- James Loy, retired U.S. Coast Guard admiral
- Jonathan Sanford, U.S. Army veteran
- Michael Hayden, retired U.S. Air Force general
- Norman Seip, retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general
- Peter Chiarelli, retired U.S. Army general
- Shawn VanDiver, U.S. Navy veteran
- Stanley McChrystal, retired U.S. Army general
- Stephen Cheney, retired U.S. Marine Corps brigadier general
- Terron Sims II, U.S. Army veteran
- Thad Allen, retired U.S. Coast Guard admiral
- Vance Coleman, retired U.S. Army major general
- Wesley Clark, retired U.S. Army general
- William “Kip†Ward, retired U.S. Army lieutenant general
“They have a lot of firearms training and they know the power and the consequences of firearms, and they understand that easy access to firearms makes our communities less safe and schools less safe and kids less safe,” Kelly told the Associated Press of the coalition’s military veteran members.
