DOVER, N.H. (AP) — Thirty months after a gunman shot her through the head, former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has become the face of the fight for gun control.

Giffords and her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, are in the midst of a seven-state-in-seven-day tour across America. They've clicked through more than 8,000 miles this week, encouraging allies and opponents alike from Alaska to Maine to defy the National Rifle Association.

Giffords and Kelly are hoping to generate momentum for federal legislation that would expand background checks on gun purchases. It's a scaled-back version of a broad legislative package to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in the aftermath of the Newtown shooting rampage that left 20 Connecticut children dead.

The bill is stalled in a divided Congress now preparing for its summer recess.