In the wake of last week's deadly mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine, a lawmaker from Florida visited New England Monday to talk about his gun reform efforts.
U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, a progressive Democrat from Florida, made a stop in Massachusetts and spoke with students at Tufts University.
Frost is the first member of Congress from Generation Z and started his political career advocating for gun reform nationwide.
Following the shootings in Lewiston, which left 18 people dead, Frost spoke on the need to break a cycle that has become commonplace in the United States.
"There'll be a shooting, and there's a cycle here, there's a press conference that electeds do, we hit the streets, and then it just dies down," he said. "Everyone forgets except the people in that community, who never forget."
The tragedy in Maine has already shown some differences to other mass shootings. Frost points to his colleague, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, changing his stance on an assault weapons ban.
"I have opposed efforts to ban deadly weapons of war like the assault rifle used to carry out this crime. The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure," Golden, a moderate Democrat, said on Thursday.
"It takes an immense amount of courage to step up and admit you were wrong on national television and be part of this fight," Frost said.
But for gun rights advocates and some members of Congress, the issue of mental health is the key factor behind these tragedies. Frost believes that's only one piece of the puzzle.
"Yes, it's mental health, but it's also ensuring that guns don't get in the wrong hands of people," said Frost.
Other Maine lawmakers, like independent Sen. Angus King, have called for changes to magazine regulation and putting restrictions on bump stocks to address the ongoing issue of gun violence.
