Man who rushed to save Rep. Giffords fights gun violence in Las Vegas

His cellphone, his bloody pants and bloody shirt are all sitting in some FBI evidence room in Quantico, Va.

And Daniel Hernandez, who helped save the life of Gabrielle Giffords after the then-Democratic congresswoman from Arizona was shot in the head two years ago, said Tuesday he doesn’t care to get them back any time soon.

They’re history, as far as he’s concerned; or, rather, they’re a part of history — as is he.

Hernandez is in Las Vegas to speak out against gun violence. He’s attending the national convention of the nation’s largest Hispanic rights group. The League of Latin American Citizens’ get-together got underway at Caesars Palace on Monday.

It’s no exaggeration that he has been reliving Jan. 8, 2011, nonstop. He has been the subject of well over 1,600 interviews and has even co-authored a book on the shooting — “They call me a hero: A memoir of my youth.”

An intern in charge of registering those who wanted to meet Giffords on that fateful morning, Hernandez said that when he heard the gunshots, he immediately ran to her rescue, pressed his hand to her head to stop the bleeding, then cradled her to his chest for nine minutes until paramedics arrived.

It was a good thing he was a nurse’s assistant at Sunnyside High School in Tucson, he said, for it was there that he learned the life-saving procedure.

In all, six people, including a child and a federal judge, were fatally shot by Jared Lee Loughner outside a Safeway grocery store in Oro Valley, a suburb of Tucson where Giffords was holding a “meet and greet.”

Diagnosed as mentally ill, Loughner has since been sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences for each victim, and is now serving time in a federal prison in Missouri.

These days, Hernandez, 23, is drawing on his first-hand experience, hoping it will play a role in passing effective legislation. His latest endeavor is a resolution that will be considered by LULAC’s 2,500 delegates this weekend. It calls for background checks in all private gun sales in the country, making it more difficult for the likes of Loughner to get a gun.

If the delegates approve the resolution in a voice vote early Saturday morning, the resolution would make LULAC the first Latino organization to take an official stance on the issue, something Executive Director Trent Wilkes said could carry a lot of weight on Capitol Hill.

“This is real people voting on a real issue, and it will be tied to a real organization, which are all positives when it comes to effecting policy change,” Wilkes said Tuesday.

Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed a similar bill a few weeks ago after it got the state Legislature’s support.

The veto isn’t entirely surprising, given the political climate in Washington, D.C., said Hernandez.

Even with the December massacre of 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown, Conn., little has been accomplished in trying to put a stop to selling guns to the mentally ill, he said.

“Everybody was expecting something,” Hernandez said. And when that “something” never came, Hernandez said he decided it was time to hit the circuit and tell his story. “For starters, I don’t like the phrase, ‘gun control,’” he said. “Call it what it is: ‘gun violence.’”

Hernandez said he grew up learning how to shoot guns. It was just something his father taught him.

“I’m not some sort of ‘anti-gun nut,’” he said. “I’m all for the Second Amendment (of the U.S. Constitution).” But he said he’s also for common sense.

Hernandez is making inroads. Just two weeks ago, he was instrumental in getting a similar resolution passed by LULAC’s Arizona chapter. Now he’s betting for a similar outcome for Saturday’s vote.“It’s going to be interesting, especially given the fact that the state’s host governor just vetoed a bill that was very similar,” said Hernandez, referring to Sandoval, who is expected to address the convention Friday.

On Thursday night, Vice President Joe Biden is expected to be the keynote speaker.