Parkland victim’s father says ‘people not gun control’ failed his daughter

The father of a victim of the Parkland high school shooting said during the Republican Convention Monday night that people are to blame for his daughter’s death not inadequate gun control laws.

‘After my daughter’s murder, the media didn’t seem interested in the facts. So I found them myself,’ Andrew Pollack said during his remarks the first night of the RNC. ‘When I learned that gun control laws didn’t fail my daughter. People did.’

Pollack’s daughter, Meadow, was one of the 17 people who died after a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School opened fire on current students and staff in February 2018. She was a senior.

He also blamed liberals for the shooting that killed his daughter, claiming their policies are not effective in deterring or stopping these mass shootings.

‘Far-left Democrats in our school district made this shooting possible because they implemented something they called ‘restorative justice,” Pollack charged. ‘This policy, which really just blames teachers for student failures, puts kids and teachers at risk and makes shootings more likely. But it was billed as a pioneering approach to discipline and safety.’

A proponent of gun rights, Pollack has dedicated his life following his daughter’s death to increasing school safety while protecting Americans’ Second Amendment rights – he also champions red flag laws and policies.

‘The gunman had threatened to kill his classmates before; he had threatened to rape them; he had threatened to shoot up the school,’ Pollack repeated facts of the case against then 19-year-old shooter Nikolas Cruz.

‘Every red flag you can imagine,’ he continued. ‘But the school didn’t just miss these red flags—they knowingly ignored them.’

Pollack has praised President Donald Trump for his response to the school shooting and his dedication to making schools safer.

He claimed President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden made his daughter and other students less safe with their policies, and said Trump did what he could to reverse them following the Parkland tragedy.

‘The Obama-Biden administration took Parkland’s bad policies and forced them into schools across America,’ Pollack insisted. ‘When President Trump rescinded Obama’s guidance on ‘restorative justice’ policies, he put an end to that.’

He also lashed out at Democratic nominee Joe Biden, claiming he doesn’t even know when the shooting happened.

‘It’s hard to tell how much Mr. Biden understands about what happened at Parkland,’ Pollack said. ‘Mr. Biden has campaigned on bringing back ‘restorative justice,’ as part of his ‘Unity Platform’ with Bernie Sanders, and has pledged to implement it in school districts across America.’

‘But he doesn’t even seem to know when this shooting happened—he said that he was Vice President when it happened. But he wasn’t,’ he continued, referencing a time in August 2019 when the gaffe-prone candidate mistakenly said the shooting happened while he was vice president.

‘Mr. Biden may not know that these policies make shootings more likely but I do,’ Pollack said. ‘Mr. Biden may not know who was Vice President that day but I do. It wasn’t Joe Biden. It was Mike Pence, thank God. And I know who the President was too. It wasn’t Barack Obama. It was President Donald J. Trump. And he took action.’

Closing out his remarks, Pollack said: ‘I truly believe the safety of your kids depends on whether this man is re-elected. I hope you’ll join me in helping to make that happen.’

Also on the gun front Monday night were Mark and Patty McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who became known for brandishing their guns at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their home earlier this summer.

‘We’re speaking to you tonight from St. Louis, Missouri, where just weeks ago you may have seen us defending our home as a mob of protestors descended on our neighborhood,’ Mark started off during the duel remarks Monday.

‘America is such a great country that you not only have the right to own a gun and use it to defend yourself, but thousands of Americans will offer you free advice on how to use it. At least that’s what we experienced,’ Patty said, partially in jest.

‘But in all seriousness, what you saw happen to us could just as easily happen to any of you who are watching from quiet neighborhoods around our country,’ Mark continued.

The duo are now facing felony charges after a video of the incident went viral.

‘At this moment in history, if you stand up for yourself and for the values our country was founded on, the mob – spurred on by their allies in the media – will try to destroy you,’ Mark said as he sat beside his wife and addressed the camera in their remote remarks.

Also speaking on the gun control issue Monday was Rep. Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican who was shot in 2017 during practice for the Congressional Baseball Game. He recalled the incident during his remarks from Washington D.C. Monday.

‘After I was shot on a baseball field by a leftist gunman, first responders rushed me to a hospital where I battled for my life,’ Scalise said.

He recalled both the president and first lady visiting him that night.

‘They were there for my family in the darkest hours,’ Scalise said. ‘Donald Trump would call to check on me throughout the following weeks, just to see how I was doing. That’s the kind of person he is.’

Besides giving Trump a personality endorsement, Scalise also railed against some Democratic calls to ‘defund’ the police.

‘This is personal – I wouldn’t be here without the bravery and heroism of the men and women in law enforcement who saved my life,’ Scalise argued.