NYC Mayor's Office via twitter.com

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, left, meets with former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, right center, and her husband, Mark Kelly, on Wednesday.

Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords, who survived a shooting at a campaign event in Arizona two years ago and now advocates stricter gun laws, plans to be in Newtown, Conn., on Friday for a private late afternoon meeting.

Giffords plans to be at a home in the town where 20 first-graders and six staffers were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a spokesperson for Gov. Dan Malloy's office told NBCConnecticut.com.

The meeting, the details of which are unclear, comes a day after more than 400 Sandy Hook students returned to class in a new building. Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman's spokesman Steve Jensen later told the AP that the visit was "planned but not confirmed" for Friday afternoon.

Full buses bring 'excited' Sandy Hook students to new school

Giffords was shot in the head outside a supermarket in Tucson at a meet-the-congresswoman event in 2011. Six people were killed in that attack.

Since then, Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, have campaigned against gun violence and have been outspoken in their support of an assault weapons ban.

The day of the Sandy Hook shooting three weeks ago, Kelly tweeted, “20 - 5 year olds gunned down in their own classroom. When will we address this problem as a nation? The time is now.”

On his Facebook page, Kelly wrote a more lengthy statement, saying that “our response must consist of more than regret, sorrow, and condolence. The children of Sandy Hook Elementary School and all victims of gun violence deserve leaders who have the courage to participate in a meaningful discussion about our gun laws - and how they can be reformed and better enforced to prevent gun violence and death in America. This can no longer wait.”

Kelly also said that Gabby sends her prayers to the victims.

A week later, Kelly wrote he was disappointed by the NRA’s “defiant and delayed response to the massacre.” In a news conference that was the NRA's first public statement on the shootings, CEO Wayne LaPierre had blamed violent video games and movies, as well as the media, gun-free zones at schools and other factors.

On Wednesday, Kelly and Giffords met with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has been an outspoken leader for gun control and is founder of a group called Mayors Against Illegal Guns. On “Meet the Press” in February 2012, Bloomberg expressed outrage that the Giffords shooting hadn’t sparked more action on gun control by Congress.

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“You’d think that if a congresswoman got shot in the head, that would have changed Congress’ views,” Bloomberg said. “I can tell you how to change it, just get Congress to come with me to the hospital when I've got to tell somebody that their son or daughter, their spouse, their parent is not going to come home ever again.”

What Bloomberg, Giffords and Kelly discussed in their meeting has not been confirmed.

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TUCSON, Ariz. -- The man who pleaded guilty to a deadly Arizona shooting rampage that wounded former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has been sentenced to life in prison.

Ross D. Franklin / AP

Former Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, left, and her husband, Mark Kelly, leave U.S. District Court in Tucson, Ariz., on Thursday, Nov. 8, after the sentencing of Jared Loughner.

U.S. District Judge Larry Burns sentenced 24-year-old Jared Lee Loughner on Thursday for the January 2011 attack that left six people dead and Giffords and others wounded.

Loughner pleaded guilty to federal charges under an agreement that guarantees he will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. He received seven life terms, one for each death and one for the attempt on Giffords' life, plus 140 years.

Giffords hugged her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, after the sentencing was handed down.

Loughner showed little response to the sentence.

The hearing marked the first time victims -- including Giffords -- could confront Loughner in court. Her husband spoke on her behalf, saying Loughner changed his wife's life forever but couldn't dent her spirit.

At the courtroom podium, Giffords held Kelly’s hand silently and stared directly at Loughner as Kelly addressed him in a stern tone, NBC News reported.

"That bright and chilly morning you killed six innocent people," Kelly said. "Gabby would trade her own life to save any of those you savagely murdered that day."

Kelly then named the six victims and talked a little about each. Afterward he said:

"Then there's Gabby... Now she struggles to deliver each and every sentence ...  Gabby struggles to walk. Her right arm is paralyzed. She is partially blind."

"Mr. Loughner, by making death and producing tragedy ... you tried to extinguish life ... But know this and remember always -- you failed. You may have put a bullet through her head, but you haven't put a dent in her spirit and commitment ... " ...

"You have decades upon decades to contemplate what you did. But after today. After this moment. Here and now. Gabby and I are done thinking about you.

Kelly also lambasted elected officials for their positions on gun control, naming Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer as one of many "feckless" state elected leaders who "look at gun violence,not as a problem to solve, but as the white elephant in the room to ignore."

Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson declined comment on the criticism leveled against the governor. 

"This is a day of justice and peace," he said.

Read Mark Kelly's complete testimony as prepared for delivery 

Loughner, asked at the outset of the hearing by Burns if he had chosen to waive his right to make a statement, answered in a low voice, "That's true."

He was otherwise silent as he sat next to his lawyer, Judy Clarke.

Clarke put her hand on Loughner's arm after Kelly spoke, a contrast to last year when the defendant spat on his lawyer from his jail cell, NBC News reported.

Other survivors also addressed Loughner.

"You forgot to shoot yourself," Mavanell Stoddard, whose husband died shielding her from bullets, told Loughner, according to a reporter from The Arizona Republic.

Suzi Hileman, who was shot three times while trying to save her 9-year-old neighbor, told Loughner she would think of him as dead. "You turned a civics lesson into a nightmare."

The 24-year-old Loughner pleaded guilty three months ago to 19 federal charges under a plea agreement.

Both sides reached the deal after a judge declared that Loughner was able to understand the charges against him. After the shooting, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and underwent forcible psychotropic drug treatments.

Some victims, including Giffords, welcomed the deal as a way to move on. It spared victims and their families from having to go through a potentially lengthy and traumatic trial and locks up the defendant for life.

Christina Pietz, the court-appointed psychologist who treated Loughner, had warned that although Loughner was competent to plead guilty, he remained severely mentally ill and his condition could deteriorate under the stress of a trial.

When Loughner first arrived at a Missouri prison facility for treatment, he was convinced Giffords was dead, even though he was shown a video of the shooting. He eventually realized she was alive after he was forcibly medicated.

'Home for good': Giffords, husband move back to Tucson

It's unknown whether Pima County prosecutors, who have discretion on whether to seek the death penalty against Loughner, will file state charges against him. Stephanie Coronado, a spokeswoman for Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall, said Wednesday that no decision had been made.

It's also unclear where Loughner will be sent to serve his federal sentence. He could return to a prison medical facility like the one in Springfield, Mo., where he's been treated for more than a year. Or he could end up in a prison such as the federal lockup in Florence, Colo., that houses some of the country's most notorious criminals, including Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols and "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski.

The exact placement will depend on the nature of his mental illness and its treatment.

Slideshow: Ariz. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

Saul Loeb / EPA

A look at the Arizona lawmaker's rise to prominence — from high school to Capitol Hill.

Launch slideshow

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The federal Bureau of Prisons psychologist observing Jared Loughner concluded in an April report released Thursday that he was mentally competent to stand trial for the Arizona shooting spree that left six people dead and 13 wounded, but there was no guarantee he would remain so given his fragile state.

Christina Pietz also concluded that Loughner’s status "may wax and wane" and could seriously worsen under the pressure of a trial.

Her assessment is part of what led his lawyers to conclude that a guilty plea was the wisest move.

Loughner opened fire on Jan. 8, 2011, outside a Tucson Safeway where  former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was holding a meet-and-greet with constituents. Six people, including a federal judge, John Roll, and a 9-year-old girl, Christina-Taylor Green, were killed. Giffords, who was shot in the head, was among 13 people wounded. Loughner pleaded guilty on Tuesday and in doing so, avoided the death penalty.

The report released Thursday covers a roughly 12-week period during which Pietz evaluated Loughner, from January to April of this year, at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo. Loughner was sent there after initially being found incompetent to stand trial.

Jared Loughner pleads guilty to Tucson shootings, avoids death penalty

In the 11-page report, which was included in a court filing, Pietz concludes that Loughner is schizophrenic, but that his symptoms can be controlled with medication.

Throughout, the psychologist details Loughner’s housing and daily routine. Because he is a high-profile inmate, she writes, he is housed in a two-room area of the facility. One side of his room has a writing desk, bed and shower. The shower doesn’t have a curtain to allow staff to monitor him.

Read the psychologist report (.pdf)

In that room, he keeps a television, pen, toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo and towel. The other room has stationary bike, although Pietz writes that Loughner rarely uses the second room.

Loughner remained on suicide watch during the 12 weeks Pietz evaluated him, and guards recorded his activities every 15 minutes in a suicide watch log.

“He denied experiencing auditory hallucinations,” Pietz wrote. But “there were a few times that staff suspected he was attending to internal stimuli because he would moan while pacing in his room.”

Loughner attended a therapy group with four other inmates from whom he was separated with a mesh wire. Pietz reported that he was an active participant during most of those sessions but sometimes paced in his area.

Analysis: In Loughner case, a cost-benefit calculation to the death penalty

Loughner also asked for a job and received two: rolling towels and stamping returned addresses on blank envelopes.

His improvement over time was marked, Pietz wrote, and when he spoke with her, he remained focused. During those conversations, which he knew would likely become public, Loughner sometimes said he regretted that Giffords did not die.

“He talked openly about his disappointment that Rep. Giffords could be alive,” Pietz wrote. “When I asked what this meant he stated, ‘That I failed. I’m not an assassin. That I ruined my life for nothing. I think differently now.’”

Later in the interview, he told Pietz, “It’s another failure if she’s alive. Jared Loughner failed again. He’s a failure. So all of this would be for nothing.”

On Jan. 24, the beginning of his evaluation, Loughner said, “I saw her on TV last night. I saw Christina Green. I saw Mrs. Hileman (Suzi Hileman, a shooting survivor). I saw the guy that held me down. I saw her walk into her office for the last time. She was going to the State of the Union address. I swear to you that’s not the woman I shot. The woman I shot in the head died instantly. No one could survive that gunshot wound to the head.” 

Later though, Loughner demonstrated to Pietz that he understood Giffords was alive.

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Pietz reported that his attorney visits left Loughner exhausted. At first, he was unrestrained during those meetings. But after he spat and lunged at one of his attorneys, he was outfitted with a belly chain, handcuffs and leg irons. Those restraints have since come off.

In conclusion, Pietz writes: “Because Mr. Loughner’s condition may wax and wane, I recommend the court expeditiously address issues related to his situation.”

After his guilty plea, Loughner was returned to the Missouri facility pending sentencing on Nov. 15. He faces a sentence of life in prison.

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Updated 6:50 p.m. ET: Jared Lee Loughner on Tuesday pleaded guilty to killing six people and wounding former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and a dozen others in a January 2011 shooting rampage at a Tucson, Ariz., supermarket.

The plea came after U.S. District Court Judge Larry A. Burns ruled that the 23-year-old college dropout was competent enough to enter a plea.  

"He's a different person in his appearance and affect than the first time I saw him," Burns said of Loughner.

Bill Robles

A courtroom sketch of Jared Loughner and his attorney Judy Clarke.

Burns then began to question Loughner, asking if he understood everything in his guilty plea agreement, in which Loughner would admit to 19 counts --  the attempted assassination of Giffords, six counts related to the shooting deaths and the remaining counts for injuries --  and the government would not seek the death penalty.

Loughner said he understood the charges. Asked by the judge if he has a clear mind, Loughner responded, "Yes, I do."

Burns confirmed with Loughner and his attorney, Judy Clarke, that they understood that Loughner could not change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity. Clarke also explained the deal waives Loughner's right to an appeal.

Additional provisions of the plea deal call for Loughner to forfeit ownership of the weapons he used in the shootings and pay restitution of up to $19 million, $1 million to each of the victims. He also must forfeit any money earned from selling his story.

Burns then read each of the counts against Loughner to which Loughner replied, "I plead guilty." The judge accepted the pleas.

Loughner opened fire on Jan. 8, 2011, outside a Tucson Safeway where then-Rep. Giffords was holding a meet-and-greet with constituents. Six people, including a federal judge, John Roll, and a 9-year-old girl, Christina-Taylor Green, were killed. Giffords, who was shot in the head, was among 13 people wounded.

Earlier Tuesday, with Loughner listening calmly without expression, Dr. Christina Pietz, a psychologist who evaluated Loughner, testified that he showed signs of depression as early as 2006 and was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2011. 

Officials at a federal prison have forcibly medicated him with psychotropic drugs for more than a year. 

Pietz said she believed that medication helped Loughner because he began showing some remorse about the shootings and at one point said he felt bad about the “assassination attempt,” and was tormented by thoughts of what he’d done.

"He has become human," Pietz said, testifying Loughner was mentally competent to proceed with the hearing.

A guilty plea deal means Loughner will not face the death penalty; instead, he would spend the rest of his life in prison. It would also mean that survivors and victims’ relatives, many of whom attended Tuesday's hearing, would be spared what could be a lengthy and agonizing trial.

Loughner initialed each page of the agreement "JL" and signed his name to the document, dated Aug. 6, 2012, with a shaky signature.

Though the plea agreement stipulates that Loughner will face a punishment of life in prison, he was not formally sentenced on Tuesday. That has been scheduled for Nov. 15.

Analysis: In Loughner case, a cost-benefit calculation to the death penalty

"It is my hope that this decision will allow the Tucson community, and the nation, to continue the healing process free of what would likely be extended trial and pre-trial proceedings that would not have a certain outcome," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. "In making the determination not to seek the death penalty, I took into consideration the views of the victims and survivor families, the recommendations of the prosecutors assigned to the case, and the applicable law."

The U.S. Attorney for Arizona, John Leonardo, said the resolution of the case was appropriate.

Martial Trezzini / EPA

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, seen here on July 25, 2012, was shot in the head during the shooting spree.

"The lives of these victims and the lives of their families will never be the same," Leonardo said, "and nothing that the criminal justice system or anyone else can do will ever bring back what these people have lost."

Several shooting survivors spoke out after the hearing, including U.S. Rep. Ron Barber, a former aide to Giffords, who called the plea agreement "certain" and "just."

Earlier, Giffords’ husband said he and his wife were also satisfied with the plea deal with Loughner.

"Gabby and I have been in contact with the U.S. Attorneys' Office throughout this process.  We don't speak for all of the victims or their families, but Gabby and I are satisfied with this plea agreement,” Kelly, a retired astronaut, said in the statement. 

Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com

“The pain and loss caused by the events of January 8, 2011 are incalculable.  Avoiding a trial will allow us - and we hope the whole Southern Arizona community - to continue with our recovery and move forward with our lives."

Giffords retired from Congress a year after the shooting to focus on her recovery.

NBC's Pete Williams, Jay Gray and Miguel Almaguer contributed to this report.

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ANALYSIS

Updated at 4 p.m. ET Aug. 7: The death penalty is often regarded as a relic of a bygone era, invented in a world before prisons, when branding, maiming and flogging were the lesser options. Its role is often debated in a modern world in which incarceration rather than physical pain is the norm.

Wes Oliver is a law professor and director of the Criminal Justice Program at the Duquesne University School of Law.

That Jared Lee Loughner, who shot then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and many others in Tucson early last year, pleaded guilty Tuesday shows why the death penalty may be allowed to linger on the books.

Loughner chose a certain life sentence over the risk of a death sentence. That threat — the potential of facing death — avoided a costly and highly publicized trial, saving the victims and their families from a painful ordeal and the judicial system from expending extraordinary resources.

Without the threat of the death penalty, there likely wouldn't have been a plea deal — no reasonable prosecutor would be willing to risk letting Loughner see the light of day outside a jail cell. And no reasonable defense lawyer would recommend that his client accept the maximum sentence permitted by law. 

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The child sexual abuse case against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky offers an excellent comparison. With the prosecution unable to offer anything more — or less — than a life sentence, the defense could do nothing other than recommend that Sandusky roll the dice, because there was no downside to letting the jury decide. 

Loughner risked a very different outcome if he didn't reach an agreement that eliminated his risk of execution.

From the prosecution's perspective, a life sentence achieves many of the goals of a death sentence. An effective life sentence — whether it is phrased as a life sentence, several life sentences or a sentence of several hundred years —is no lenient alternative to death. 

And such a sentence protects society. Our penal institutions are capable of detaining men on death row for many years, meaning those prisons can hold similar men into their geriatric years. 

There are also financial advantages to life sentences. Counterintuitively, life sentences are typically cheaper than death sentences because of the greater complexity of capital cases. 

Opponents of the death penalty contend that it legitimizes violence, but it offers substantial incentives for defendants to reach agreements that avoid extraordinarily expensive and psychologically taxing trials. The criminal justice system's strong interest in such alternatives may mean the death penalty lingers long after there's a consensus that there's a better way to punish violent criminals.

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Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly, attend a ceremony at the Pentagon, Friday, Feb. 10, for the unveiling of the USS Gabrielle Giffords.

The Navy on Friday named its newest combat ship after former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who attended the Pentagon event with the mother of a 9-year-old girl slain in the Tucson shooting rampage that left Giffords gravely wounded.

The 3,000-ton ship, known as an Independence Variant Littoral, will be built in Mobile, Ala., by Austal shipbuilding, as part of the Navy’s strategy to provide access and dominance in coastal waters, according to NBC News.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus made the announcement before a gathering at the Pentagon’s Center Courtyard. "It's a major part of the future of our Navy," he said about the vessel, which measures 419 feet in length and can travel in excess of 40 knots. "She's going to provide our Navy and country with fast and flexible capability ... this ship can perform an amazing variety of missions."

Mabus said courage has defined the Navy since it's inception, so it made sense to name the ship after someone "who has become synonymous with courage."

Giffords, a Democrat, resigned from Congress last month to focus on her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head after a gunman opened fire in January 2011 with a semiautomatic pistol on a crowd gathered outside a Tucson supermarket for a Congress-on-your-Corner event. Six people were killed and 13 people, including Giffords, were wounded.

Since then, Giffords has been undergoing intensive rehabilitation in Houston.   

Charged in the shooting is Jared Loughner, who is undergoing psychiatric treatment at a federal prison in Missouri in an effort to restore his mental competency so he can stand trial.

Christina Green, an elementary school student, was attending the event with a neighbor when she was gunned down. The elementary school student was born on Sept. 11, 2001, and had been featured in a book about children from the 50 states born on that day.

At the Pentagon, Mabus named Green's mother, Roxanna Green, as the sponsor of the new ship, which will be in service for three decades once completed.

Earlier on Friday, Giffords was at the White House as President Barack Obama signed into law the legislation she authored that will  increase the penalties for using ultralight aircraft when smuggling drugs into the country.

"I'm confident that, while this legislation may have been her last act as a congresswoman, it will not be her last act of public service," Obama said in a statement released by the White House.

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