ORLANDO, Fla. — With more than 18,000 Americans dead after the pull of a trigger so far in 2022, including 1,000 since the Buffalo mass shooting last month according to the Gun Violence Archive, many Central Floridians want some sort of action taken to make the streets safer.

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The question is, what?

The violence hasn’t ignored the Orlando area, which was rocked by a string of shootings over the past couple of weeks. One of them, investigators said, was carried out by a 10-year-old girl.

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Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Monique Worrell felt strongly enough about the recent events to call a news conference Thursday, both to denounce violence against police officers and to say there were too many guns on the streets.

“We have lost the very basic respect for human life,” she said, turning her attention to other prevention measures. “It is likely that prior to each of these instances of violence, there was someone who suspected that these individuals could engage in these incidents. We need those individuals to be proactive and speak up before these instances occur.”

Worrell’s call echoes the hopes of many of her fellow Democrats, who say a patten is unfolding among the recent high-profile mass shootings: young men, large weapons and mental issues.

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“An 18-year-old shouldn’t be able to get an AR-15 if they can’t even get an alcoholic beverage at a bar,” Lisette Cuevas said at an anti-gun violence rally Thursday.

Cuevas mentioned that brains aren’t fully developed until later in life, and she wanted to see the minimum age needed to buy a military-style weapon favored by mass shooters raised to at least 21, which Florida currently requires.

That would put 19-year-old Skye Boyd under the threshold in more than just his home state. He also attended the protest and had a list of changes he wanted to see leaders enact. However, he focused on the tendency for mass shooters to announce their plans on social media before carrying them out.

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“Why don’t we have some kind of way to supervise what’s going on there?” he asked, describing a notification system if certain words or phrases are used. “If there is some kind of threat being made, why not get it to the authorities?”

The feelings weren’t shared by others on the same sidewalk. Within earshot of the protesters — and occasionally standing off against them — were groups of Ron DeSantis supporters armed with an arsenal of flags, including some with the governor’s face on them.

Instead of gun restrictions, they said they wanted the focus to be on mental health.

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“I want the right to protect myself,” Cyndi Coner said. “What is the old saying? Outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.”

Coner evoked a different saying: “see something, say something,” adding that someone should have reported the Uvalde shooter in the days leading up to his killing spree.

If he had been living in Florida and a report had been made, police could have used the Sunshine State’s “red flag” law to temporarily seize his guns and mandate some sort of counseling. Law enforcement officers have praised the law since it went into effect in 2018. Texas does not have a statewide law.

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“It’s not a matter of the gun causing the problem, it’s a matter of an individual causing the problem,” Todd Catella said. “It’s not laws that need to be passed. It is society saying this guy looks dangerous, I need to report him.”

Gov. DeSantis’ spokeswoman said his office had nothing new to add to the conversation on Thursday, adding that he defends Floridians’ constitutional rights.

She did point out, however, that among the budget items the governor approved earlier in the day were $4 million to strengthen security systems at Jewish day schools, $140 million to expand school mental health programs and $6.4 million to help school districts install panic alarm systems that contact nearby first responders.

4 killed in shooting in Tulsa medical building; gunman dead Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin identified the gunman who killed four people as Michael Lewis, a patient who undertook back surgery on May 19. (NCD)

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