Father of Parkland victim reacts to Vance saying school shootings a fact of life

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00:00The 14-year-old suspect in the Georgia high school shooting along with his father are back in jail right now after making their first court

00:06Appearances Colt Gray was only in front of a judge for a few minutes. He could face life in prison if convicted

00:12He's charged with four counts of felony murder after killing two students and two teachers on Wednesday

00:17Nine others were wounded just minutes after the suspected shooter was led out of the courtroom

00:22His father Colin walked in for his own arraignment

00:25He sat down in front of the judge and had his charges read to him for the same crime

00:30Colin Gray's

00:32Arrest affidavit alleges. He gave his son a firearm quote with knowledge. He was a threat to himself and others

00:39These charges stem from mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son Colt to possess a weapon

00:47He is in custody at this time. The arrest was made when we had the probable cause to make the arrest

00:52Our next guest knows the tragedy of losing a child to gun violence all too

00:57Well as 14 year old daughter Jamie Guttenberg was killed in the Parkland school shooting in 2018

01:02He's since dedicated his life to fighting for gun safety our Fred Guttenberg joins us now Fred

01:08Thank you back for being back on the program. We have you back far too often

01:12Unfortunately, but I do want to ask you what what's your reaction to the suspect's father?

01:18Facing charges in this case. What do you take away from that?

01:23You listen the father

01:26Should be charged. The book should be thrown at him the father

01:30The father bought the gun for this kid

01:36after the FBI

01:38Visited and law enforcement visited the father

01:42Absolutely is responsible and must be held to account

01:47but listen, I

01:49Want to say something else because you know following the news of the father

01:53There was also a whole lot of other news

01:56about comments from JD Vance

01:58Yeah

02:00And we're gonna get to that. I do want to play that. Yeah, I

02:03Do want to but it matters

02:06It matters here because this is this case this this shooting puts an end to every lie

02:14About why we're in the place that we are today this father

02:19I hope he rots in the most evil place in the universe

02:23along with his son

02:25this was a preventable act of gun violence and and and and sadly until we

02:33Take on the reality that our policy choices and politicians who refuse to make the right policy choices

02:42Accept the change that we need this will happen again

02:46Yeah, I mean the system is riddled with loopholes as you know and openings and vulnerabilities

02:51Please say gray bought his son this gun for Christmas

02:54That's months after authorities first contacted the family about a separate school shooting threat last year

03:00although

03:02This kid denied making those threats. I mean, it's remarkable. I mean there

03:08People talk all the time about well if there's tougher enforcement and their

03:13Visits to the home from authorities that can prevent these sorts of things and then it didn't have

03:19Well, listen and and to some extent in moments like this

03:24we're also

03:27Subject to local laws and unfortunately in the state of Georgia. The laws are not acceptable. They had no red flag law

03:35Okay, there's no safe storage law, okay

03:38And so, you know the the kinds of laws that smart states and smart communities and on a national level

03:46Are being pushed now or that are?

03:50Stopping these things they weren't in place here and Fred. Let's talk about what you just mentioned a few moments ago

03:56JD Vance the Republican vice presidential nominee. I had this to say about

04:01What took place in Georgia here? Here was his response?

04:05Clearly strict gun laws is not the thing that is going to solve this problem

04:09What is gonna solve this problem and I really do believe this is look. I don't like this

04:13I don't like to admit this

04:14I don't like that

04:15This is a fact of life

04:16But if you're if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines

04:21You realize that our schools are soft targets and we have got a bolster security at our schools

04:28First offer we have to get out of the way. I mean, it's a fact of life in the United States

04:33It doesn't have to be but it's not a fact of life around the world, but your response to that

04:39Well

04:40But it's not even a fact of life in the United States

04:45There's a hundred and fifteen thousand schools in the United States

04:50There are far fewer than 100 school shootings per year. And so here's my response, you know

04:56I joined the Brady Pack as a senior advisor

04:59Because there is only one way to solve that the the

05:05incorrect assessments and the bad policy prescriptions of people like JD Vance and it's to make sure we get them out of the world of

05:12Politics and we get them out of any decision-making when it comes to our public safety

05:18What JD Vance?

05:20Says is a fact of life. Well for me, that would be true

05:24I visit my daughter at the cemetery

05:26But I will tell you last year we invited every member of Congress

05:31To walk through the Procter and Schooler. My daughter was shot

05:34It is still an untouched crime scene. The blood is there the DNA is there

05:39The coursework was still on the desks as if the kids had just walked away from them

05:44JD Vance

05:46Never showed up. He didn't come but you know who did

05:50Kamala Harris Kamala Harris came and walked that building with me

05:56Because rather than thinking this as a fact of life that we need to accept

06:01She wanted to see

06:03everything that led to the tragedy that could have been done to stop it and how we actually need to rethink

06:11schools and public safety going forward in a world where there are

06:17400 million plus weapons that aren't only making their ways into schools

06:22But making them to political rallies, I mean JD Vance forgets

06:28Donald Trump was shot just a couple of months ago

06:30And so this is not something we have to say is a fact of life

06:35It is uniquely American

06:37But it is also a fact of failed policy and failed politicians and we get to fix this with our vote

06:45Right and in one of the other facts of life is that you the polls show that a vast majority of Americans want

06:53Tougher background checks. They want a whole host of gun safety laws that just aren't getting through the Congress

07:00Because of opposition from the gun lobby and that too is a that too is a fact of life. I mean, that's just a fact

07:07that

07:09These laws can't get through the Congress and they can't get signed by the president because of the gun lobby, that's a fact of life

07:17It's a fact of life, you know, Jim. I'm gonna tell you about two months ago

07:21I visited the ATF alcohol tobacco firearms facility in West Virginia where they are

07:28responsible for storing every transaction related to the sale of a gun and

07:34Because of Congress this is a fact of life that we all need to deal with and we need to fire those who are behind it

07:41because of Congress they are

07:43congressionally mandated

07:45Into not updating the storage of those records. They are literally held in

07:5030,000 boxes on pieces of paper

07:53because of Congress

07:55They're not allowed to update so the ATF has to go to Adobe and say we're gonna pay you money

08:02To dumb down your software because we're not allowed to store digital records here

08:08That is because of Congress because of Congress a the ATF which is

08:15responsible for helping to track gun transactions that and

08:19Would put guns in the hands of people who shouldn't have them or to solve gun crimes. They are

08:25Prohibited from doing excuse me from doing their job

08:28That's a fact of life

08:30But it is a fact of failed policy from failed politicians who we can fire

08:37We don't need to accept this as normal

08:42Fred Guttenberg always good to talk to you. Thanks for joining us

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