Parkland father lauds George H.W. Bush’s resignation from NRA in 1995

A father who lost a child during the Parkland, Fla., school shooting earlier this year praised the late President George H.W. Bush on Saturday for resigning from the National Rifle Association (NRA) in 1995.

Fred Guttenberg took to Twitter following news that the former president died on Friday at the age of 94.

“A lot will be written today about President George Bush. Whether you agreed or disagreed with him, most would think that he always served with honor and decency,” Guttenberg wrote. “This resignation letter that he wrote resigning his NRA membership is only one example.”

{mosads}Guttenberg’s 14-year-old daughter, Jaime Guttenberg, was one of 17 people killed during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day. He has since become a vocal critic of the NRA and advocate for gun control.

A lot will be written today about President George Bush. Whether you agreed or disagreed with him, most would think that he always served with honor and decency. This resignation letter that he wrote resigning his NRA membership is only one example.https://t.co/liV3qKn6n9

— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) December 1, 2018

Bush resigned as a life member to the pro-gun group after the NRA’s executive vice president at the time, Wayne LaPierre, attacked federal agents as “jack-booted thugs.”

“To attack Secret Service agents or [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] people or any government law enforcement people as ‘wearing Nazi bucket helmets and black storm trooper uniforms’ wanting to ‘attack law abiding citizens’ is a vicious slander on good people,” Bush wrote in his resignation letter. 

The letter came shortly after Al Whicher, who served on Bush’s Secret Service detail, was killed during the Oklahoma City bombing.

“He was no Nazi. He was a kind man, a loving parent, a man dedicated to serving his country  — and serve it well he did,” Bush wrote of Whicher.

The former president wrote that he was a gun owner and an avid hunter who had agreed with many of the NRA’s goals for education and training efforts.

“However, your broadside against Federal agents deeply offends my own sense of decency and honor; and it offends my concept of service to country. It indirectly slanders a wide array of government law enforcement officials, who are out there, day and night, laying their lives on the line for all of us,” Bush wrote in the letter.

“Please remove my name from your membership list,” he added.