A new report ranks Idaho near the bottom among states for its laws on gun safety.

The organization Everytown for Gun Safety places Idaho 49th for the strength of its firearm laws. Of the 50 gun-related policies the group investigated, it said the state only has four policies in place, and Idaho's gun-violence rate is higher than the national average.

Jacqui Hamilton, volunteer state chapter co-lead for Moms Demand Action Idaho, which is associated with Everytown for Gun Safety, believes the Gem State can do better to protect people from gun violence.

"It's disheartening," Hamilton stated. "I grew up here, I grew up in Idaho; we moved here when I was 13 in 1982. My family has hunted. We've owned firearms in our house, but we also practice safety."

The report noted Idaho has the fourth-highest rate of gun ownership in the country, and also the fourth-highest rate of gun suicides. Groups supporting gun use and ownership argued laws restricting access violate Americans' Second-Amendment rights.

Hamilton countered there are laws on the books in other states Idaho lawmakers could pass to promote gun safety.

"We would like to see universal background checks on every gun sale," Hamilton asserted. "Right now, there are loopholes. We would like to keep firearms out of the hands of people who shouldn't have firearms, such as convicted domestic abusers."

She also pointed to a shooting at the Boise Towne Square mall last year which killed two people. The shooter had been convicted of felony theft in Illinois, but it did not bar him from having a gun under Idaho state law.

Idaho ranks above only Mississippi in the Everytown for Gun Safety report. The group identified California as first for the strength of its gun-safety laws.

Democrats in the Florida Legislature are reviving calls for stricter gun-control laws, following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Florida's attempt at stopping school shootings came in 2018, when a gunman took 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Driven by student protests, lawmakers passed measures allowing school professionals to volunteer as armed personnel, ban "bump stocks" and create a "red flag" law allowing police to confiscate guns from people deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.

Rep. Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, the House Democratic Leader, noted dozens of other ideas are being blocked by GOP lawmakers, even with public support.

"I'm talking about bills like universal background checks, safe storage laws, ID check on ammunition purchases, expanded mental-health programs," Driskell outlined. "We could do all of these things and not touch a single legally-owned firearm by a responsible gun owner."

Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis recently pledged his support for a change in state law to allow residents to carry concealed guns without getting permits.

Florida Republican legislative leaders did acknowledge the shooting in Texas by offering prayers and a moment of silence.

Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, Speaker of the House, spoke about the shootings.

"Our hearts are with these communities as they continue to suffer, we know all too well what it looks like for a community to be suffering the way that they are suffering."

After the Parkland shootings, lawmakers also set aside around $97 million in recurring funding for school resource officers and created the Office of Safe Schools in the Department of Education.

However, Democrats believe there is an ongoing need for stricter gun-control laws. They cite the amount of times Florida's "red flag" gun-confiscation law has been used. According to The Associated Press, it was used more than 3,500 times as early as 2020, a number Democrats claim has since increased to near 6,000.

This week's school shooting in Texas has evoked feelings of hopelessness in the public sphere about avoiding future tragedies in the U.S. But gun reform advocates in Iowa feel lawmakers reluctant to approve changes shouldn't be able to shrug off the mounting frustration.

Tuesday's mass shooting that left nearly 20 elementary school students dead, comes a decade after the Sandy Hook massacre.

Congress is getting much of the blame for not agreeing on gun-control measures in recent years. Scott Peterson, the outgoing director for the group Iowans for Gun Safety, said policymakers are clearly dropping the ball.

"We have things that can be done," said Peterson, "that are reasonable and most gun owners actually find acceptable - but we don't have politicians that will do that."

Most national polls show partisan divides on gun control, but a majority of Americans have expressed support for things like universal background checks.

And Peterson said while many are upset with lawmakers in general, he feels Republicans should shoulder the blame because of their ties to the gun lobby.

A number of GOP lawmakers say issues such as mental health are the bigger problem.

Some of Iowa's prominent Republicans, including Gov. Kim Reynolds and U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, have received donations from the National Rifle Association.

Matt Sinovic, executive director of the group Progress Iowa, said these elected officials need to hear about how gun violence and mass shootings are a public health issue.

"Make sure that our voices are heard," said Sinovic, "that people are calling, that people are showing up, people are contacting the legislators and elected officials - to know that our safety matters more than that donation check they're getting from the NRA."

The public pressure comes after state lawmakers have relaxed some of Iowa's gun laws in recent years, including no longer requiring a permit to carry handguns.

And Reynolds is being asked by these groups to veto a bill that would allow semi-automatic rifles for hunting. Meanwhile, the Texas shooting has renewed calls for the U.S. to reinstate an assault weapons ban.

The latest mass shooting that left 19 schoolchildren and two of their teachers dead in a small Hispanic community outside of San Antonio has renewed calls for Congress to take action.

Gov. Gregg Abbott, speaking at a Wednesday news conference, said little is known about the motive of the gunman, who appears to have posted about his intentions online just 30 minutes before the shooting occurred.

"The gunman was 18 years old and reportedly a high school dropout," Abbott stated. "There has been no criminal history identified yet. There was no known mental-health history."

Despite multiple mass shootings in Texas, Abbott has presided over legislative sessions where lawmakers weakened gun regulations. The National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Houston was on the governor's schedule this week, but he declined to say whether he still plans to attend.

Beto O'Rourke, the former Texas Congressman and a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, approached the stage following the governor's remarks, and accused him of "doing nothing" to address gun violence. Once outside, O'Rourke railed against those who blame such shootings on mental illness, arguing for universal background checks and red-flag laws, consistently blocked by Congress.

"It is absolutely wrong, in fact it is insane," O'Rourke asserted. "The governor talks about mental health. It is insane that we allow an 18-year-old to go in and buy an AR-15. What the hell did we think he was going to do with that? This one is on us."

Uvalde school superintendent Hal Harrell commended the teachers at Robb Elementary School.

"If it weren't for them, along with the law enforcement that came, that were willing to cradle their kids, get them out of the classroom when it was safe, when they were guided, that says volumes," Harrell said.

Less than two weeks ago, 10 primarily Black grocery shoppers were gunned down in a Buffalo, New York supermarket by a teenage gunman who proclaimed racist conspiracy theories often referred to as the "great replacement." Among those surveyed, 82% of Black adults and 58% of Hispanic adults said gun violence is a very big problem in the U.S., while only 39% of White adults agreed, according to Pew Research.