Tampa Bay moms call on lawmakers for stricter gun laws amid Nashville shooting

TAMPA, Fla. (Tampa Bay Now) - As police continue to investigate the aftermath of a mass shooting that happened at a Nashville Covenant school on Monday, Florida advocates against gun violence are calling on lawmakers for tighter gun restrictions here in Tampa Bay.

That shooting claimed the lives of six people in Nashville on Monday after police say a lone gunman entered the school premises and opened fire.

"Parkland. Pulse. Buffalo. Uvalde," said Wendy Malloy, Moms Demand Action - Florida Chapter. "It's tragic. It's preventable!"

The heartbreaking incident has, once again, brought the issue of gun violence to the forefront of the national conversation.

"I actually used to live in Nashville and was part of Moms Demand Action, Tennessee chapter and I have spoken to several of our volunteers there and they're devastated. I lived next door, in Nashville, to a family whose two beautiful little children go there. Thankfully, they're safe, but they will forever live with the trauma."

The group – which advocates for gun safety measures like background checks, and red flag laws, and other policies – is demanding action to prevent such senseless violence.

The grassroots organization said in statement Monday "school shootings are not acts of nature — they're manmade acts of cowardice enabled by lawmakers who have accepted children being shot in their school as an acceptable price to pay for the support of the gun industry."

Two years ago in April, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed into law Constitutional Carry allowing most adults to carry a handgun without first obtaining a permit. The same legislation that the Florida House approved last week and the State Senate is expected to approve Wednesday in a vote.

"It's always the wrong answer to punish the innocent," said State Rep. Tommy Gregory, (R) Lakewood Ranch. "Raising the age from 18 to 21, I think in retrospect, was the wrong answer, because we are catching innocent Americans whose rights should be protected."

In the wake of this devastating incident, Mom's Demand Action is hoping to reverse the possibility, so tragedies like the one in Nashville can be prevented from happening again.

"This is not the way to respond to this kind of violence," said Malloy. "We've had enough thoughts and prayers."