Father Of Teen Killed In Shooting Calls For Stricter Gun Laws
/
Fred Guttenberg, right, a former East Northport resident and father of a teenager killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, questions Sen. Marco Rubio, left, at a CNN-hosted town hall meeting on Feb. 21. Screenshot/CNN
By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com
A former East Northport resident and father of a teenager killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting last month has joined the national cry for gun control.
Fred Guttenberg questioned Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) as part of a town hall meeting hosted in Sunrise, Florida by CNN on Feb. 21.
The meeting drew students of the high school and their parents, along with administration and local figures who questioned Rubio, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida), Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Florida), Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch.
Guttenberg said to Rubio, “I want to like you, and I’m a brutally honest person so I’m just going to say it up front: your comments this week, and those of our president, have been pathetically weak.
“ Look at me and tell me guns were the factor in the hunting of our kids in this school this week. And, look at me and tell me you accept it, and you will work with us to do something about guns.”
Guttenberg, a Commack High School North graduate, is the father of Jamie Guttenberg, 14, one of the 17 killed in the Feb. 14 shooting.
The father said in an interview Wednesday he is “enraged” with elected officials.
“My daughter was murdered at school,” he said. “We elect people to do the people’s business and they are not.”
He’s urging parents and citizens to stand up against the National Rifle Association.
“It could’ve been your kid, so get involved, be active, call your elected officials, call companies that have a financial business relationship with the NRA and tell them that you will no longer do business with them if they continue their relationship with the NRA,” Guttenberg said.
While nothing will bring his daughter back, Guttenberg said he’s been an active proponent of gun control in the wake of the shooting because “God forbid I don’t do my part and this happens to another parent. I just couldn’t live with myself.”
Guttenberg described his daughter as a no-nonsense individual with a tough personality.
“She didn’t put up with nonsense and she was a person who didn’t put up with other people’s nonsense, and because of that my daughter was a kid who stood up for those who were bullied,” he said.
He continued, “The other side of her was that she was a silly, funny and happy kid, who was the energy in every room she went into, whether it be at our home, in school or at competitive dance.
“The world lost and amazing person.”
