I have a hard time sitting still, John. As a gun violence survivor, I feel a constant pressure to keep moving forward at all costs to ensure no parent has to feel the agony I felt the day I lost my daughter.

My name is Fred Guttenberg, and I’m reaching out to you today because my daughter Jaime was murdered by a gunman armed with a military-style assault weapon during the 2018 Parkland massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

John, every time I hear about a new shooting, I flash back to the moment I realized Jaime was gone forever. I recall how – in the disorder of everyday life – I couldn’t remember if I told her that I loved her before she left for school that final time. 

Before Jaime was hunted down in her own classroom, my biggest priority was getting my kids to school on time. Now, I’m fighting every day for pragmatic, common-sense gun safety reforms across the country – and that includes holding gun manufacturers, the NRA, and their bought-and-paid-for politicians accountable.

Every day, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell’s blatant disregard for the safety of our children rocks me to my core. Since Parkland, more than 2,000 children have died from gun violence – and McConnell, who calls himself the "Grim Reaper" of the Senate, refuses to lift a finger on life-saving gun safety bills, like an assault weapons ban, which could have saved Jaime’s life.

That’s why I’m working with Brady to hold gun manufacturers like Smith & Wesson accountable, ban military-style assault weapons, and kick Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump out of office. I know that together we can stop the NRA and elect gun violence prevention champions across this country, but we’re going to need you on our side to do it: 

Brady has set an ambitious $50,000 midnight goal to fund our efforts to take this fight to court, stop the NRA, and get weapons meant for the battlefield off our streets. No parent – no person – should have to feel this pain. So please, John, will you give $5 or more right now to help us defeat shameful politicians like Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump? Every dollar you give will go toward keeping families across our country safe – and preventing them from experiencing the agony that my family, and too many others, have suffered from senseless gun violence. 

In the years since Jaime was murdered, the pain hasn’t ever stopped, but I have hope that things will change because I’ve seen the power each of us has to take on gun manufacturers and the gun lobby – and win. 

It’s become my life’s mission to save other parents from this unbearable agony, and I hope you’ll join us and make a donation to this fight today, John.

Fred Guttenberg