MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Minneapolis high school student lost his dad in one of the worst workplace shootings in Minnesota history. Now, he will meet with other relatives and survivors of mass shootings and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to talk about taking action against gun violence.
“The message is we simply don’t feel safe anymore in our homes, in our schools, in our workplaces, in our malls, in our movie theaters,” said Sami Rahamim, the son of Accent Signage Systems owner Rueven Rahamim.
A disgruntled employee, Andrew Engeldinger, killed five Accent Signage employees, including Rueven, and a UPS driver, before he turned the gun on himself.
“When is it going to end? Enough is enough is enough,” he said.
Rahamim spoke with WCCO-TV at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport Sunday night on the way to Monday meetings with survivors of the shootings in Aurora, Colorado, the Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee, Virginia Tech, and the shooting that seriously wounded Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson.
“Each shooting story just brings you back to that ground zero (of the Accent Signage shooting),” said Rahamim. “You start to realize there’s such a huge problem with the accessibility to guns, the wide range of firearms that are available and how lethal they are in today’s world. These are not your grandpa’s hunting rifle anymore.”
Mayor Bloomberg is the co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Right now the group has an effort called “Demand A Plan” to end gun violence.
Rahamim said the movement has given him purpose while dealing with the intense loss of his father and other people he knew.
“We lived the American dream. The tragic part of what’s happened to us at accent, now we feel like we’re living the American nightmare,” said Sami Rahamim.
He said while the elementary school shooting in Connecticut brought profound sadness to his sister, it provoked a different reaction in him.
“It brought me to a point where I thought, ‘OK, we need to take action,’” he said.
Rahamim said his father was very politically active, and taught him to stand up for what he believes in.
“I think he would be proud I’m taking advantage of this opportunity,” he said.
