Don’t let lawmakers fool you. Tide is turning for gun safety.

In the gun violence prevention movement, we often say that this fight is a marathon, not a sprint. There are few places where this is clearer than in Florida — which after years of effort is the “Gunshine State” no more.

Following the tragic shootings at Pulse in Orlando in 2016 and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018, we saw Floridians across the state call for common-sense gun safety with a vigor the state has never seen. As part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act, the Florida Legislature passed a red flag law that sent ripples across the country, with a dozen other states passing similar laws in the months after.

Florida reached another landmark this year when a bill that would strengthen background checks by closing the gunshow loophole passed a Senate Committee with overwhelming bipartisan support. In the following weeks, stakeholders across the state shouted out their support, from the Florida PTA, to survivors of gun violence, to mayors across Florida, including Tampa, Orlando, Tallahassee and Parkland.

The need is obvious: loopholes like this allow guns to get into the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. The measure is sensible because it directly addresses that loophole by ensuring that people can’t evade the background check system by going to a gun show. And the support is broad: a full 75% of Floridians supported measures like SB 7028.

None of that mattered to Senate and House leadership. Make no mistake — House Speaker José R. Oliva and Senate President Bill Galvano let Floridians down this session. They broke their promises to give this bill the consideration it deserved and make all of us safer. They chose NRA lobbyists over Florida families — and we’ll be working to ensure that come Election Day, we elect lawmakers that govern with our safety as their top priority.

Florida lawmakers had a chance this session to help close the deadly gun show loophole in our state’s background check system. Senate and House leadership didn’t even allow lawmakers to vote on the bill — and for that, they should be ashamed as well as for the blood on their hands.

Some may see this as a setback. But this is also a step up. Let’s not forget that what happened this session is still a landmark. A bipartisan committee stood up to NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer and gun lobby leadership and said “No more. Floridians come first.” That’s progress.

The fact is, Florida is no longer the NRA’s playground. Yes, there are some people in the Legislature who still have a cowardly attitude when it comes to gun safety. But that attitude is on its way out, and gun safety is on its way in — although there’s still a lot of work left to do.

So we won’t stop — just like our mantra, we’ll “keep going.” Because this work is far too important to let a few bumps in the road get in the way. We won’t let anything — not Hammer, not Galvano, not Oliva — stop us from standing with a broad majority of Floridians in doing everything we can to keep our families safe from gun violence. For our son Jerry and for all of those taken from us by gun violence.