After his daughter Gina was killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Tony Montalto sought to finally get common-sense gun laws passed in a country that continuously failed to do so.

Four years later, Montalto and his nonpartisan organization, Stand with Parkland, are still fighting in the wake of another mass shooting, this time at a Texas elementary school.

“After these shootings, we see this dissolve into a Second Amendment debate, and that is a waste of time,” Montalto told Errol Louis on “Inside City Hall” Wednesday. “The Second Amendment exists. We need to find ways to work around it.”

“If we’re just going to let this dissolve into a Second Amendment debate, I don’t think we’ll see anything get done and my daughter’s death, as well as the death of these children and teachers in Texas, will be in vain,” Montalto added.

Montalto wants what he calls “pragmatic, middle ground” gun regulations in “the realm of the possible,” including background checks, safe storage requirements, and red flag laws. But he also says a more comprehensive approach to mental health and school safety is necessary to protect children from these atrocities.

“We look at the school safety triad, which is securing the campus, better mental health screening and support programs,” and responsible firearm ownership, Montalto said. “All three of those things failed our families that day in February of 2018, and sadly, I think we’re going to see those things failed the people in Texas as well.”

Among the policies Montalto hopes to see enacted is one Senate bill that would empower the Secret Service and the National Threat Assessment Center to investigate how to prevent school shootings.

The Eagles Act – named for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s mascot – would also allow the National Threat Assessment Center provide free training to educators and law enforcement to recognize students “exhibiting troubling behavior and get them the health they need before they resort to violence.”

As for gun laws, Montalto pointed to his home state of Florida as the model for how sensible regulation, like red flag laws that bar people who are a danger to themselves or others from possessing guns, can coexist with responsible gun ownership.

“This is something that has been used nearly 5,000 times since it was passed here in Florida,” Montalto said of Florida’s red flag laws. “Despite the cries from the far right that the world would end, it hasn’t. Everybody in Florida still has the right to hunt, they still have the right to own weapons, and we’ve used it 5,000 times to protect the citizens of this state.”

A bill in the U.S. Senate, sponsored by both of Florida’s Republican senators, would give federal dollars to states with red flag laws in place.

“We’ve seen former President Trump support these after the Parkland shooting. We’ve seen President Biden support these after he got in office,” Montalto said. “Where is the action from Congress? Where is the action?”