Virginia Shooting Victim's Father Says He Is 'Probably Going to Have to Get a Gun'

On Wednesday, journalist Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were murdered on live television by a former co-worker. In the aftermath of Parker’s death, her father Andy Parker has publicly pushed for stricter gun control. In an interview with WDBJ7, the Virginia television station where Alison worked, Parker encouraged journalists to continue reporting on gun control and the gun lobby that prevents meaningful reform.

“I want to go to the Virginia legislature and I want them to look me in the eye and tell me why we can’t have a reasonable proposal, any reasonable background checks, the things common sense dictates,” Parker said during the interview. “I want them to look me in the eye and tell me why they won’t support that.”

Yet Parker, who currently doesn’t own a gun, admitted that his daughter’s murder, coupled with his gun control advocacy left him feeling unsafe. He said that he was “probably going to have to get a gun,” to protect himself from the “people who take exception to what you are saying.”

Parker’s words are a sad, yet deeply understandable, reaction to the pro-gun culture that seems to have taken hold of our national discourse. Perhaps what’s most disturbing is that a parent whose 24-year-old daughter was murdered for no apparent reason is afraid for his own safety simply because he’s asking for “reasonable background checks.” Reason, however, seems to have little room in the debate.