Murder of David Gunn
Encyclopedia
David Gunn (doctor)
David Gunn was an American physician. He received his bachelors degree from Vanderbilt University and earned his M.D. at the University of Kentucky. Gunn moved to Brewton, Alabama, after his residency, choosing to provide OB/GYN and abortion services in rural America.Gunn was murdered in...
in Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
in the United States. This was the first documented assassination of an OB-GYN
Obstetrics and gynaecology
Obstetrics and gynaecology are the two surgical–medical specialties dealing with the female reproductive organs in their pregnant and non-pregnant state, respectively, and as such are often combined to form a single medical specialty and postgraduate training programme...
, to prevent a doctor from performing abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
s.
Griffin (at the time 31 years old) waited outside Gunn's clinic and shot him three times in the back. He is reported to have yelled "Don't kill any more babies," just before the shooting.
Griffin did not attempt to hide his commission of the murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, telling police, "We need an ambulance."
A jury deliberated three hours before finding him guilty on March 4, 1994. He was sentenced to life in prison. He is currently serving in Okaloosa Correctional Institution in Crestview
Crestview, Florida
Crestview is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. Crestview’s name was chosen because of its location on the peak of a long woodland range between the Yellow and Shoal rivers which flow almost parallel on the east and west side of the City....
, Florida. The murder was one of the motivating factors in the creation of the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act
Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act is a United States law that was signed by President Bill Clinton in May of 1994, which prohibits the following three things: the use of physical force, threat of physical force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, interfere...
.
Association with John Burt
During his trial, Griffin's defense attorneys argued that activist John Burt "brainwashed" Griffin and drove him to commit murder. At the time, Burt was the Northwest Florida regional director of the national pro-life group Rescue America. Burt was also a retired U.S. MarineUnited States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and former member of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
(though he claims to have "abandoned the group's racist doctrine when he became a born-again Christian") and a self-professed "spiritual adviser" to a group of activists who bombed three abortion clinics in 1984. In 2005, Burt was convicted of five counts of lewd or lascivious conduct for improperly touching and propositioning a 15-year-old girl at the home, and sentenced to 18 years in state prison.
Cultural references
In 1994, Gunn's violent death inspired the first official single "Get Your GunnGet Your Gunn
Released in 1994, "Get Your Gunn" is the first official single by alternative metal band Marilyn Manson. "Snake Eyes and Sissies" was originally planned as the lead single but never released; "Get Your Gunn" was released instead. The track was released to support the album Portrait of an American...
" by alternative metal band Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson (band)
Marilyn Manson is an American metal band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Formed in 1989 by Brian Warner and Scott Putesky, the group was originally named Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids with their uniquely theatrical performances gathering a local cult following in the early '90s. This attention...
. The lead singer, Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
, explained in a 1999 Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
op-ed piece on the Columbine High School Massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
, that to him, Gunn's murder by "pro-life" activists was the ultimate hypocrisy he had witnessed as a young adult.