By EFE
Aug 27, 2023, 21:31 PM EDT
MIAMI – Fred Guttenberg, father of one of the victims of the 2018 shooting at the Parkland school in Florida, criticized this Sunday the easy access to long-range rifles in the United States, after the hate crime that occurred in Jacksonville, also in Florida.
“Americans vehemently disagree with the NRA (National Rifle Association),” Guttenberg said on social media, defining himself as a “father whose daughter was killed by an AR 15.”
His daughter Jaime Guttenberg was killed at the age of 14 in the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, north of Miami, on February 14, 2018, which killed 17 people.
“Twenty years ago, when Jaime was born, AR-15s represented less than 2% of all guns sold. Today they represent 25% and the main cause of massive armed violence in the United States ”, he sentenced.
His statements come a day after the shooting murder, precisely with an AR 15, of three African-Americans in a store in Jacksonville, north Florida.
A white supremacist, Ryan Palmeter, 21, killed three people at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville on Saturday.
Palmete used an AR 15 long rifle and a Palmetto brand pistol that he had bought legally and on which he had painted a swastika.
Before the attack, the assassin had tried to access Edward Waters University, an educational center traditionally focused on the black community, but a security officer denied him entry because he did not want to identify himself.
US President Joe Biden has repeatedly unsuccessfully called on Congress to ban AR-15 assault rifles.
In a statement, Nikke Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, regretted what happened and condemned the easy access to weapons.
“There are no words that can fully describe the pain the Jacksonville community is experiencing right now after three Black people were attacked and killed in a racially motivated shooting,” Fried said.
Following the shooting, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a statement condemning the shooting, saying the killer “chose the victims based on their race, which is totally unacceptable,” rather than “choosing the coward’s way out.” and shoot himself rather than face the consequences of his act.”
DeSantis signed a law last April that allows the carrying of a firearm without the need for a state permit, a regulation strongly criticized by Democrats.
HB 543 went into effect last July, making Florida the 26th US state to enact such legislation.
The term “constitutional carry” refers to the right to carry a firearm, either discreetly or openly, thanks to the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which gives the American people the right to keep and bear arms.
Currently, Floridians don’t need permits to buy a gun, but they do need permits to carry them in public, so this law eliminates that requirement.
In Florida, according to data released by NBC6 television, almost 3 million people have a concealed weapons permit.