Parkland school shooting survivor Kyle Kashuv told Breitbart News he is concerned that Republicans are too focused on playing defense to actually seize the opportunity to “grow the Second Amendment.”

Kahsuv said, “You know, I talked to many Republican legislators in DC and you know what I heard? What I heard was that we have to defend the Second Amendment but I think we have to do more than that. We have to grow the Second Amendment because right now the Republicans are on defense and you can never win by playing defense.”

He added:

If all the Republicans are trying to do is defend the Second Amendment, they are not solving the issue itself. They are not solving the issue of gun crime. [Instead of] just playing defense and shutting down everything the Democrats are pushing up let’s push up our own legislation. Let’s say, “Look, civilian gun use saves one million-plus people every year.” Why are we not pushing for better laws, for broader laws to access a handgun and to allow civilians to defend themselves. Why are we pushing for that? Why are not embracing concealed carry permits? Why are we not getting rid of gun-free zones? These are the things that the Republican Party, that is now in power, should doing, before midterms come up.

Kashuv then shifted his attention to April 20 anti-gun walkout and said, “These kids are trying to push an agenda but it’s not going to solve the issue. Which means if you want to solve the issue you have to overlook your previous agenda and be like, ‘Hey, this is what we have to do. We have to be sure we don’t have gun-free zones because 98 percent of shootings happen in gun-free zones.'”

On March 7, 2018, Breitbart News reported that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had ignored national reciprocity for concealed carry for over a year. National reciprocity legislation was introduced in the Senate on March 1, 2017, and McConnell has not acted on it to date.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.