8 years after Parkland: Anniversaries like these are painful — but also powerful | Opinion

Eight years ago, our world was shattered.

On Feb. 14, 2018, 17 innocent lives were taken at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Devastatingly, my 14-year-old daughter, Gina, was one of the victims. In the moments that followed, families like mine were forced into a reality we never asked for — one defined by grief, loss, and an unrelenting question: How did this happen, and how do we make sure it never happens again?

For many of us, the answer became action.

In the years since the Parkland tragedy, we have turned pain into purpose. We have shown up in state capitols and on Capitol Hill. We have told our stories over and over again — not because it’s easy, but because it matters. And together, we have helped change laws and policies that are saving lives today.

In Florida, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act was passed just weeks after the shooting, a bipartisan response that proved change was possible, even in the hardest moments. It strengthened school safety, expanded mental health resources and created a framework for threat assessment and intervention that other states have since followed.

Nationally, families from Stand With Parkland joined with survivors and advocates from across the country to help pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022 — the most significant federal gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years. That law closed the so-called “boyfriend loophole,” provides $300 million in funding through the STOP School Violence Act to institute safety measures in and around schools, invested $1 billion in mental health programs and strengthened background checks for young firearms buyers. It was a step forward, and it would not have happened without the voices of victims and families refusing to be silent.

We’ve also worked to improve school safety through commonsense, evidence-based policies, from secure campuses and better coordination to stronger crisis intervention systems that identify warning signs before tragedy strikes. These are not abstract ideas. They are real tools that help prevent violence, and they exist today because people demanded better.

But as we mark eight years since Parkland, one truth is painfully clear: Progress does not mean the job is finished.

Gun violence remains the leading cause of death for children and teens in America. Schools and communities across our country continue to experience the same heartbreak we know too well. And every time it happens, families are forced to begin the same journey we did — from shock, to grief, to a fight they never wanted.

We still need safe storage laws that protect children from unsecured firearms. We still need stronger accountability for those who enable violence and better systems to identify people in crisis before they hurt themselves or others. And we still need leaders with the courage to act, even when it’s politically hard.

At Stand with Parkland, we believe public safety is not a partisan issue; it’s a moral one. We work with Democrats, Republicans and independents who are willing to put people over politics. We know that real change happens when lawmakers listen to families, follow the data and focus on solutions that actually reduce harm.

Eight years later, I still think about my daughter, Gina, every day. I think about the 16 other lives stolen that day, and the families who carry their memory forward. I think about the students who should be graduating, starting careers, building families of their own. And I think about the responsibility we all share to make sure their deaths were not in vain.

Anniversaries like this are painful. But they are also powerful.

They remind us why we started. They remind us what’s at stake. And they remind us that progress, while slow and imperfect, is possible when we come together as an American family and focus on issues and answers.

We owe it to the victims of Parkland.

We owe it to the next generation.

And we owe it to ourselves to keep going.

Tony Montalto is the father of Gina Rose Montalto, 14, who was killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. He is president of Stand with Parkland – The National Association of Families for Safe Schools and also president of the Gina Rose Montalto Memorial Foundation.

This opinion article has been updated.

This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 1:11 PM.