Alison Parker's Father: 'They messed with the wrong family'

The father of a reporter shot to death on live television said Sunday that he wants to take a leading role in helping to curb gun violence.

Andy Parker told CNN's Jake Tapper that he wants to see a tightening of loopholes in gun laws and urged that the slaying of his daughter, Alison Parker, and cameraman Andy Ward remain in the news.

"Just don't be desensitized to this issue," Parker pleaded with Tapper's "State of the Union" viewers.

He said other shootings have grabbed the nation's heart and attention for days, but inevitably those tragedies fade from the public consciousness. He said he doesn't want people to say, "Oh geez, this is another horrific incident," and then turn their attention to "What's for dinner tonight, honey?"

Parker and Ward were doing an interview on a live morning show for CNN affiliate WDBJ on Wednesday when a former reporter for the station came up to them and gunned them down, and shot and wounded the person being interviewed.

Andy Parker said he hasn't watched television since his daughter's slaying. She was 24 years old. Ward was 27.

In grief and anger, Parker told Tapper that he's committed to making sure that more is done legislatively concerning guns in America.

"I'm telling you, they messed with the wrong family," Parker said.