Florida's Congressional District 13 race has been particularly vicious between Anna Paulina Luna (R) and Eric Lynn (D). Shortly after the sentencing of Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz to life in prison, a verdict Governor Ron DeSantis (R) himself condemned, an attack mailer targeting Luna was released.
Fred Guttenberg, father of Parkland victim Jaime Guttenberg, is a gun control activist in the wake of his tragic loss. In the mailer, Guttenberg says he is "all too familiar with the cowardice of Florida Republicans like Anna Paulina Luna."
Additionally, he in essence calls Luna a hypocrite for being pro-life yet also pro-gun. "She's a self-proclaimed "pro-life extremist," and yet, she opposes gun reform legislation and background checks that could have saved my daughter Jaime's life," the mailer says in bold. Guttenberg then claims that he confronted Republican lawmakers after the shooting, but "they couldn't even look at me and refused to work with Parkland survivors to make it more difficult for people to access weapons of war like the one that killed my Jaime."
Guttenberg reiterates this "weapons of war" point when he describes Lynn's experience in the Dept. of Defense knowing such supposed weapons are designed to "prevent terrorism overseas." While his appeal is certainly understandable, usage of this "weapon of war" term is troubling. This is not to downplay Mr. Guttenberg's grief nor the horror of the Parkland shooting, but Cruz carried out his beyond-reprehensible act with an AR-15, which is not designed or used as a combat weapon in any capacity.
Finally, Guttenberg unfavorably compares Luna to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), saying Luna "wants to be like her." Most interestingly, it is noted that Luna and Lynn are tied at 47% in the polls.
With November 8th getting closer and closer, time will tell if Guttenberg's appeal for Lynn will pay off.
