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Past gun violence produced few lasting changes in Florida, but the Parkland mass shooting has prompted swift new laws and a high-profile committee that is generating action. When 14 students and three staff members were gunned down Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School near Fort Lauderdale, the state quickly raised the age for buying a rifle from 18 to 21, tightened other laws and formed a panel to investigate shortcomings in law enforcement and at the school — prompting personnel changes even before filing its initial report. (11/29)

Doctors brought their #thisisourlane Twitter feud with the National Rifle Association to the steps of Congress Thursday, pressing House Democrats to fund federal research into gun violence, pass background checks and ban assault weapons once they take power in January. Many physicians have long favored such regulations but were galvanized after the NRA dismissed the American College of Physicians’ recent call for sweeping gun control policies by tweeting the doctors should “stay in their lane.” (Ollstein, 11/29)

Researchers at the University of Miami, along with first responders and the military, have developed a new protocol that they say could save lives. Currently, firefighters must remain outside until police give the all-clear, explained Sunrise Fire Department Lieutenant and researcher Steven Carter. This process could take anywhere from a few minutes to hours. (Mulcahy, 11/29)

They were holding a regular brainstorming session on strategies to treat the epidemic of psychological trauma that overwhelms social agencies across Milwaukee and disables much of its workforce — a toxic side-effect in a city with near-daily exposure to violence, abuse, abandonment and drugs. As if to drive home the point in a way that no one could miss, a volley of gunfire rang out in the street outside Our Savior's Lutheran Church, even as the meeting was in progress. (Schmid, 11/29)

While a decision to stop selling assault-style weapons in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting dented its overall sales, Dick’s Sporting Goods says that the dip reflects a broader weakness in the world of firearms. The nation's largest seller of sporting goods reported that consolidated same-store sales were down 3.9% in the third quarter, due in part to double-digit declines in the areas of electronics and hunting. (Jones, 11/29)