A congressman who represents the city in South Florida where a school shooting occured this afternoon has repeatedly spoken out in favor of gun control.
There are reportedly up to 14 victims in the shooting, which took place Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Rep. Ted Deutch, a Democrat who represents Broward and Palm Beach counties, tweeted Wednesday that Parkland is an “idyllic community.”
“Tragedies like this occur everywhere,” Deutch said in the tweet. “School shootings occur everywhere. This is horrific.”
Parkland is an idyllic community. Tragedies like this occur everywhere. School shootings occur everywhere. This is horrific. https://t.co/ygR6Z5gmgN
— Ted Deutch (@RepTedDeutch) February 14, 2018
In a 2014 interview with the Sun Sentinel, Deutch lamented that “meaningful gun safety legislation” had not been passed in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that left 26 people dead, including 20 children. He expressed “frustration” with the “power of special interests” to prevent the passage of gun control laws.
“We have let down those families and we’ve let down the people of this country by failing to do anything to move gun safety legislation,” Deutch said.
In 2014, long before #StonemanShooting @RepTedDeutch agonized over lack of action on guns after #SandyHook. Deutch represents Parkland. pic.twitter.com/QjZ46l2JnP
— Anthony Man (@browardpolitics) February 14, 2018
Following a shooting at South Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Airport in January 2017 that killed five and injured six people, Deutch made a one-minute speech on the House floor calling out lawmakers for their “complete failure to take action.”
“Thoughts and prayers are all that we have offered the American people, and that is not enough,” Deutch said.