My response to the 18th school shooting in the past 45 days, this tragic massacre in Parkland, Florida, struck a nerve with many people who are following my campaign. And I will address that pushback.

If believing that common-sense gun policies like regulations for licensing and assault rifles means I “expect to live in a Utopian society,” then I am guilty as charged.

There is nothing histrionic or dramatic about saying that this is the time for serious, sober, intentional, reasonable conversation about gun policy. Saying “people will always get guns somehow,” or that the solution is MORE guns because "the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," is an argument I will simply never agree with. I will never agree that we can’t change, and I will tell you that honestly and directly morning noon and night.

For those who believe that this unprecedented increase in gun violence is a new reality we must resign ourselves to accept, I challenge you to hold our culture to a higher standard. I do.

I’m ready to do the work as a state-level policymaker of identifying and implementing common-sense answers to our nation’s epidemic of gun violence. I’m ready to tell the truth: that we can have effective gun laws that keep kids safe without restricting anybody’s freedom or safety. I have the courage to have that conversation because I know all of us can agree: This violence and carnage can’t go on. It cannot be normalized.

I respect and understand that the topic of gun control is controversial and contentious. I understand and believe that there is no unilateral solution to curbing gun violence. But there is no amount of pressure or attacks from the gun lobby or its supporters that could make me back down from my conviction that now the time for lawmakers to commit to this difficult, but urgent work.

Nobody expects to live in Utopia. But we should expect more than thoughts and prayers. We have to do better for those affected by our violent past, and we must hold our elected officials accountable to find solutions now, before even more victims of senseless gun violence are added to the count.