My daughter Jaime should be turning 17 years old today. My family should be celebrating our beautiful girl with a party while we all dance together. She should be blowing out 17 candles on her cake. 

Instead, we will be visiting Jaime in the cemetery. My daughter was one of 17 people murdered during the 2018 Parkland massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Her life was taken when she was only 14 by a gunman armed with a military-style assault weapon that should not be in the hands of civilians. She will never see another birthday. 

My name is Fred Guttenberg and I am a father, gun violence survivor, and activist. Since the day I lost my daughter, I have been working every day to ensure no parent has to feel the agony of losing a child.

I think constantly about the moment I realized Jaime was gone forever. In that moment, I couldn’t remember if I told her that I loved her before she left for school. I would give anything to hug her today and celebrate her life instead of her memory.

I honor Jaime’s memory with action that will saves lives and prevent this grief in other families. I’m fighting every day for pragmatic, common-sense gun safety reforms across the country.

Since Parkland, more than 2,000 children have died from gun violence. More than 2,000 families should not have to miss their child’s birthday. That’s why I’m working with Brady to hold gun manufacturers 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.

I need you in this fight. Pease join me today — on what should have been Jaime's 17th birthday — to ensure that every child and family can celebrate another birthday together. 

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. Together, we have the power to change this country for the better. 

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. 

I am thinking of my daughter today and every day. Happy birthday in heaven, Jaime. 

Fred Guttenberg