Frost reflected on being a member of the “mass-shooting generation.”

Since being elected as the very first Gen Z member of Congress last month, 25-year-old Florida Democrat Maxwell Frost has doubled down on his campaign promises, with one the most important to him being major, concrete gun reform.

In a series of statements to The Guardian, Frost stressed the importance of curbing gun violence to his generation, which he nicknamed the “mass-shooting generation.”

“It feels like I’ve been through more mass shooting drills than fire drills,” he said.

As mass shootings continue to be an enduring crisis in the United States, Frost is making it his mission to get gun reform legislation on the ballot in his first six months in office. “I think we have an opportunity, even in a Republican Congress, to pass legislation that can help get money for community violence intervention programs that help end gun violence before it even happens,” he said.

Frost also noted that any gun control legislation would require in-depth provisos on mental health. “Folks with serious mental health issues are often scapegoated as the reason why there’s gun violence,” he said. “But as someone who’s been doing the work, when you look into the numbers, having a serious mental health issue doesn’t make you more likely to shoot someone. It actually makes you more likely to be shot.”

“I’d venture to say that gun control is the slowest-moving issue in the federal government that has the most media coverage when something happens. I have to be the consistent voice.”