Gabrielle Giffords heads home for first time

Representative Gabrielle Giffords is heading home for the first time after being brutally gunned down during a public speech in January.

The congresswoman traveled via private plane from Houston to Tucson where she will spend Father's Day with her family.

We've been dreaming of this trip for some time, Giffords' astronaut husband, Mark Kelly, said in a news release Friday. Gabby misses Tucson very much and her doctors have said that returning to her hometown could play an important role in her recovery.

Giffords was released from a Houston hospital Wednesday, five months after being shot in the head during a Tucson political event. She had been in the rehab facility since late January.

She will not be making any statements or public appearances this time, Kelly said, noting that this is an 'emotional' trip and wishes to ensure privacy.

The first two smiling photographs of Giffords were released last Sunday, almost six months after a bullet struck her.

The mass shooting that took place at a community event on January 8, killed 6 people and injured 13.

The photos with short hair showed how far she has come since she was shot in the left side of her forehead. However, according to her spokeswoman, Pia Carusone, Giffords still has to go a long way.

Carusone said Giffords can communicate by combining words, facial expressions and gesturing to express herself, but she cannot articulate complex thoughts.

Meanwhile a federal judge decided that Jared Loughner, accused of the shooting, is not competent to stand trial.

The decision was handed down by Judge Larry Burns, who serves on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Mental health experts will try to make him psychologically fit.

SEE: New photos of Gabrielle Giffords emerge [PHOTOS]