Winner of the 2023 American Spirt Award for Citizen Activism.

Fred Guttenberg began his public life after the murder of his beautiful fourteen-year-old daughter Jaime in the Parkland, Florida, school shooting on Feb 14, 2018. The day after the murder, Fred decided to attend a public vigil. While there, the mayor asked him to speak. His words shook a nation and he has not stopped since. Only four months prior to the murder of his daughter, Fred’s brother Michael passed away in October 2017 from cancer related to his service in 9/11 in New York City. He was one of the original first responders at the World Trade Center with a team of doctors who got trapped in the WTC as it collapsed. Amazingly, the room that they hid out in did not collapse and Michael and his team of physicians spent sixteen days at ground zero taking care of others. Following his involvement in these two distinctly American tragedies, Fred has traveled the country talking about both events but also talking about perspective, perseverance, and resilience. He discusses pivotal moments in our lives and how we respond to those moments, using his speech to inspire others. Prior to these events, Fred Guttenberg’s professional life included over a decade in sales and management with Johnson & Johnson, followed by almost fifteen years as an entrepreneur, having built a business including nineteen Dunkin Donuts. Fred and his wife Jennifer now spend time challenging elected officials to do more. They began a nonprofit organization dedicated to Jaime’s life called "Orange Ribbons for Jaime." He has been a regular on TV news programs and myriad online and print media. The nonprofit is now his full-time mission.

Contents
Chapter 1: Combatting Misinformation on Gun Violence

Chapter 2: The Truth About Guns in US History and Culture

Myth: Gun Laws are a Recent Development

Myth: An Increasing Percentage of Americans Are Buying Guns

Myth: America Has An All-Encompassing Gun Culture

Myth: Most Americans Support an Expansive View of Gun Rights and Generally Oppose Restrictions on Gun Ownership

Chapter 3: The Truth About Guns and Public Safety

Myth: An Armed Society is a Polite Society

Myth: The Only Consequences of Gun Violence are Murders

Myth: Gun Violence Numbers are Inflated Because they Include Suicides

Myth: Guns Make Women Safer

Myth: Arming Teachers Will Make Schools Safer

Myth: Gun Violence is Just a Problem in the Inner Cities

Chapter 4: The Truth About Guns and Assault Weapons

Myth: Guns Don’t Kill People, People Kill People

Myth: An AR-15-Style Rifle Is a Sporting Gun

Chapter 5: The Truth About Guns and Self-Defense
Myth: Guns Provide a Net Benefit to Society in That They Are More Likely to be Used for Protection Than to Commit Crimes

Myth: There are 2.5 Million Defensive Gun Uses Per Year in the US

Myth: Right-to-Carry Laws Reduce Crime

Myth: Training Required of Concealed Weapons Permit Holders Prepares Them for Effective Defensive Gun Use

Myth: All Concealed Weapons Permit Holders are “Good Guys”

Myth: Stand Your Ground Laws Save Lives

Myth: Most Mass Shootings Occur in Gun-Free Zones

Chapter 6: The Truth About the Causes of Gun Violence

Myth: The US has More Gun Deaths Than Other Countries Because It Is More Violent and Not Due to Higher Gun Ownership or Weaker Gun Laws

Myth: Mass Shootings and Gun Violence are Primarily Due to the Mental Illness of the Perpetrator

Chapter 7: The Truth about Guns and the Constitution

Myth: The Second Amendment Grants Americans the Right to Carry Any Firearm into Any Setting

Chapter 8: The Truth about Guns and Freedom

Myth: Widespread Gun Ownership and Gun Carrying Increases Our Freedom

Myth: We Must Choose Between Public Safety and the Freedom to Own Guns

Myth: Gun Violence is the Price We Pay for Our Freedoms

Chapter 9: The Truth As to Why Guns Ought to be Regulated

Myth: We Need to Tackle the Root Causes of Violence and Stop Blaming Guns

Myth: Why Ban Guns When People Can Also be Killed with Knives, a Frozen Ham, or Die in a Car or Pool?

Myth: Guns Don’t Matter Because People Will Find a Way to Kill Others or Themselves Regardless of Gun Availability

Chapter 10: The Truth About Gun Laws and Gun Violence Prevention

Myth: Gun Violence Prevention Always Involves Changes to Laws and Public Money

Myth: Switzerland and Israel have Relaxed Gun Laws and Low Murder Rates

Myth: Hitler Introduced Strict Gun Control to Repress the Population

Myth: We Don’t Need More Gun Laws; We Just Need to Enforce the Laws We Have

Myth: Gun Control Doesn’t Work. Chicago has Very Strict Laws and a Huge Gun Violence Problem

Myth: Gun Owners and Nonowners Disagree on Every Form of Regulation

Myth: Bans and Restrictions Don’t Work as Criminals Don’t Obey the Law and Can Buy Guns on the Illegal Market

Myth: Banning Firearms is Futile When So Many Weapons Are Already in Civilian Hands

Myth: Gun Laws Are a First Step to the Complete Disarmament of the Population (the Slippery Slope Argument)

Chapter 11: How to Combat Misinformation and Change the Focus from Gun Rights to Public Safety

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Appendix A: A Declaration of the Right to Live Free from Gun Violence

Notes