Following the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, many local officials have looked into ways to introduce common-sense local ordinances to address gun violence — only to run up against aggressive state preemption laws.

CDLS member and Coral Springs City Commissioner Dan Daley spoke with The Wall Street Journal about his frustrations at the inaction created by state lawmakers at the gun lobby’s behest.

After February’s deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla., residents in neighboring Coral Springs exhorted city commissioners to pass new gun restrictions.

But officials face a formidable obstacle: a 2011 Florida law that exposes local leaders to the risk of personal sanctions and removal from office if they infringe on the state’s sweeping authority over firearms regulations.

“I want to do something,” said Dan Daley, a Coral Springs commissioner. “But I’m so damn restricted…that I don’t have many options.”

More cities are rebelling. In April alone, three sets of plaintiffs filed separate lawsuits in state court against Gov. Rick Scott and other state officials challenging the constitutionality of the 2011 penalties, including a group with Coral Springs and three other Broward County cities.