Maxwell Frost, a 25-Year-Old Gun Control Activist, Heads to Congress to Demand Action on Gun Violence
Gun control advocates made a lot of noise last month, when a 25-year-old pro-gun control activist named Maxwell Frost made a speech in support of gun control. Maxwell Frost is not known as a gun enthusiast or for pushing for gun control. Frost, who lives in Oregon, has organized protests and has called for a moratorium on the construction of new gun shops. Frost is, however, a passionate and eloquent advocate for gun control, who is pushing for gun control on Capitol Hill in the face of intense government pressure.
Frost is a senior at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. With his trademark sense of irony, Frost describes himself as a “young gun owner,” who is “totally committed to gun rights,” but has become a “fellow traveler” of gun control, citing the need for gun control for mental health reform. In his speech on Capitol Hill, Frost argued for gun control to end gun violence using arguments familiar to many young gun advocates. For instance, he argued that gun violence is “caused by mental illness.” In fact, Frost argues for armed body guards to be provided to law-abiding Americans.
If Frost’s arguments are unfamiliar to many college students, he has a track record of making them familiar as well. Frost has been a gun rights and pro-Second Amendment activist for many years. As he stated in a 2013 blog post:
“It came to a point where the government was making me a target for arrest, harassment and prosecution simply for speaking a truthful opinion…I made a decision to become a gun control activist. And it’s not just for the cause. It’s more than that: it’s out of an obligation and desire to serve others and to use my talent to help others that I hold in high regard and that have been sorely neglected in the aftermath of our national tragedy. And I feel strongly that is the way to help the people of America.”
Frost describes his efforts as “the first stage” of his pro-gun control activism. (“I believe that the majority of Americans share my views, but they still have to see it and hear it for