Gun control advocates have made major strides on passing state legislation in the wake of the Parkland high school massacre earlier this year. In fact, it's their "best year" in recent memory, writes the Washington Post:
Since the Florida shooting, the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence counts 55 new gun-control laws passing in 26 states. That is far more success than they normally see, any way you measure it: in the number of laws, the variety of the laws passed and the bipartisan support a number of them had. Republican governors in 15 states signed bills gun-control advocates supported.
Those new laws include nine that prevent domestic-violence offenders from getting guns, eight that ban bump stocks, eight that allow law enforcement to deny a person access to guns, eight that funded gun violence prevention programs in urban areas, six expanding background checks, and five putting restrictions on where guns can be carried.
The gains also spanned regional and political differences alike. Vermont, with a divided government and basically zero gun regulations, passed a package of first-ever gun-control measures. Meanwhile Florida, the so-called "Gunshine" state, became the first entirely GOP-controlled state in recent history to pass a law restricting gun access.
Taken together, the new laws represent a sea change in both public sentiment and political will that has put gun control advocates on the offensive rather than simply trying to combat further erosion in gun regulations across the nation.