Florida gun owner surrenders assault rifle after Parkland high school massacre

TAMARAC, Fla. — A Florida man spurred by the massacre that killed 17 people at a Parkland high school last week has “put (his) money where (his) mouth is” and surrendered his assault rifle to authorities.

Ben Dickmann, 40, wrote on Friday, in a Facebook post that has since gone viral, that he decided to lead by example.

"I own this rifle," Dickmann wrote, sharing multiple photos of the semiautomatic AR-57 as he turned it in at the Broward County Sheriff's Office. "It's a caliber variant of the AR-15."

The suspected gunman in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, former student Nikolas Cruz, is accused of using an AR-15 to gun down 14 students and three faculty members on Valentine’s Day.

"I am a responsible, highly-trained gun owner. (I am not a police officer or sheriff's deputy)," Dickmann wrote. "However, I do not need this rifle."

Dickmann wrote that no one without a police badge needs an AR-57.

"This rifle is not a 'tool' I have use for. A tool, by definition, makes a job/work easier," Dickmann wrote. "Any 'job' I can think of legally needing doing can be done better by a different firearm."

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Dickmann wrote that, although he enjoyed shooting the weapon, he has other types of guns that he can shoot for recreation. He could have sold the rifle, he wrote, but “no person needs this.”

"I will be the change I want to see in this world," Dickmann wrote. "If our lawmakers will continue to close their eyes and open their wallets, I will lead by example. #outofcirculation."

Officials with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office praised Dickmann for his decision.

"We commend Ben for helping us get one more dangerous weapon off the streets," a post on the Sheriff's Office Facebook page read.

The post also offered two ways for the public to turn in an unloaded, unwanted weapon. A citizen can call the department’s non-emergency line, 954-765-HELP, and inform a deputy that they have a weapon to surrender for destruction.

"Leave the firearm in a location away from you in the home/business, allowing the responding deputy to retrieve it when they arrive," the post read. "The deputy will take possession of the weapon (and) ammunition for disposal."

The second way to turn the weapon in is to secure the gun in the trunk of a vehicle and drive to the nearest Sheriff’s Office substation. After parking in the visitors’ lot, a citizen can go inside and tell the deputy at the desk that he or she has a firearm and/or ammunition in the vehicle for surrender.

"A deputy will meet with you and retrieve the weapon from your vehicle for disposal," the post read.

Dickmann, who lives about 30 minutes from Parkland in Fort Lauderdale, told NPR in an interview that the decision to give up his assault rifle came after "a lot of soul searching." He said that, like others, he sees a lot of "thoughts and prayers" being offered, but not much else.

"I thought, 'Well, this is something I can do that I think is right," Dickmann said. "And it's something I can do that might spark a change. You know, my whole goal was maybe to inspire one friend on my Facebook page to do the same thing. And maybe that friend would inspire one other person."

Dickmann said he considered taking action after the Las Vegas shooting, but thought that his gun was not hurting anyone sitting in his gun safe. The Stoneman Douglas massacre, however, hit close to home.

He said response to a Facebook post he wrote the day after the school shooting is what spurred that action. In that long post, Dickmann wrote that it was past time to do something about the mass violence undertaken with firearms in the United States.

"I can now say I know people who have been directly affected by three of the most horrific gun violence events in our history (Northern Illinois University, Las Vegas, Stoneman Douglas), and a couple more single events," he wrote. "This makes me sick. This makes me mad. I'm tired."

In the Northern Illinois University shooting, which took place 10 years to the day before the Stoneman Douglas massacre, former NIU student Steven Kazmierczak walked onto the stage in an auditorium where class was taking place and gunned down five students before killing himself. More than a dozen more were injured.

Commenters on Dickmann’s post, who numbered in the thousands, varied in their responses. Some thought he spoke common sense, while others accused him of being a paid lackey for the anti-gun crowd.

Dickmann told NPR that it was sarcasm from one man who told him, "Well, if you feel this way, why don't you go turn your gun in?" The man even offered to drive Dickmann to the station.

"Even though he was being extremely sarcastic about it because he's a very staunch conservative, gun rights activist person, it kind of spurred me to say, 'You know what? Yeah, I'll do that,'" he said.

Dickmann said he’s glad that his actions sparked a debate.

"I hope somebody, be it the students, be it the next generation, picks up the torch and does something," he said.

Cox Media Group