Video of gun owner destroying same type of gun used in Florida shooting goes viral

A video of a gun owner cutting up his AR-15 following the mass shooting at a Florida high school has gone viral.

Scott Pappalardo posted a video on his Facebook page on Sunday that shows him cutting up the weapon, the same type of gun used in the Florida shooting. The video has been viewed about 17 million times as of Tuesday morning.

Pappalardo said he was a “firm believer in the Second Amendment” and has a tattoo of it, but added that “ultimately, it’s a gun like this one that takes away the lives.”

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“So when do we change?” he asks in the video. “When do we make laws that say a weapon like this isn’t acceptable in today’s society?”

He said that he thought about selling the weapon, but worried that the gun could be used in future acts of violence.

“In the back of my head I say, ‘What if whoever buys this weapon, their child gets hold of it and brings it to school one day and shoots a bunch of people?’ Could I live with that? I don’t think I could,” Pappalardo said.

“So I’ve decided today that this weapon will never be used to take a life, the barrel of this gun will never be pointed at someone. I mean, think about it, is the right to own this weapon more important than someone’s life? … I don’t think so,” he continued.

Pappalardo then cut the gun into pieces.

“I can’t live knowing that my gun’s out there and it could one day possibly commit a horrific act like the other day in Florida,” he said, adding he hopes the video might cause others to do the same as him.

Seventeen people were killed when a gunman opened fire at Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School in Parkland, Fla. last week.

Student survivors of the shooting have since demanded that elected officials take action on gun control.