Retired Space Shuttle Commander Mark Kelly hopes coming to President Obama's State of the Union address with his wife, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, will help convince her former colleagues its time to tighten the nation's gun laws.

"We hope it has a big impact on the members of congress who are going to be sitting down below," Kelly said of Giffords' presence in the House visitors gallery.

After the deadly massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, the two started an organization committed to pressing for more gun control. The group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, released its first television ad on Monday.

"What's important is that right now we are 100 percent committed to making sure we do the right ting and the right thing is universal background checks, banning high capacity magazines, addressing the easy access we have to assault weapons," Kelly told CNN in an interview.

Giffords is still struggling to recover after a gunman shot her through the head two years ago. Traveling to Washington and appearing in public is still extremely taxing.

But Kelly said it was important for her to come to the president's address, where he will make another push for gun control.

"We need to do something now," said Kelly.