CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Five days ahead of the midterm elections, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Val Demings made a stop in South Florida Thursday, holding an event to discuss gun violence.
She visited a Coral Springs community center, calling for passage of “common sense” gun control laws and calling out her challenger, incumbent Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, for not supporting them.
Demings was joined by U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, and Parkland father Fred Guttenberg.
“Marco, not only lied in the debate, but the years he spent running the Parkland families around on this legislation,” Guttenberg said. “He ultimately voted against it, because that’s who he is.”
After the Parkland shooting, Senator Rubio promised to take action on gun control laws, but he never did. He did take $3 million from the National Rifle Association.
“He’s been AWOL year after year, to debate after debate,” Murphy said. “He comes from a state in which some of the worst most high profile mass shootings have occurred.”
Demings, a former Orlando police chief, is a strong advocate for keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.
Shame on Marco Rubio, who used the Pulse nightclub, by the way, as his inspiration to run for re-election, after losing the nomination to be President of the United States,” Demings said. “He used the Pulse nightclub as his inspiration, saying that ‘it seems like there’s still more work to be done.’ And he hasn’t done a damn thing.”
Rubio was campaigning in Osceola County Thursday and putting down President Biden.
“The last 22 months, if you look at where we are today, remember the famous Reagan story? Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” Rubio said. “Really the question (is) well, are you better off today than you were, you know, 22 months ago? The answer is of course no.”
When you ask Rubio why he votes against gun control legislation, he almost always says that people who are law-abiding gun owners shouldn’t be punished by the behavior of non-law-abiding gun owners. He says it’s a basic Second Amendment issue.