Last Sunday we all watched the chilling screams of people deciding whether it was safer to run or remain crouched behind the nearest object. We were horrified to see people sending messages to their loved ones in case they never saw them again. How many more mass shootings can we stomach before we decide to implement real gun control?  

In truth, the world doesn’t need another opinion article about the Las Vegas Shooting. No one needs to read another story ridiculing the easy access to guns in the United States, or talking about how we should have learned this time. It’s true we should have known better. Very little has changed since the horrifying massacre at Sandy Hook, and yet we are still looking around for a scapegoat, while the answer looms directly in front of us: It is time we all come together for the common safety of the people and create legislation ensuring that guns don’t get into the wrong hands.

The gun control debate has gone on long enough, and all we have done is dug ourselves into our respective camps and gotten farther and farther away from a consensus. The people affected by the Las Vegas tragedy and other like should not have to deal with the actions of a gunman for the rest of their lives, but they will. We should not need to take another moment of silence; we should not need to lower our flags, yet again, but here we are. Nothing has changed. We do so many things out of respect of tragedies but we rarely do anything to prevent them.

In the wake of such a tragedy it is only natural to grieve and support the affected people any way we can. Some people have used this time to demand stricter gun control laws, while others have demonized them for politicizing the event, stating that the tragedy occurred too recently to start pushing different agendas. We must push; we must take action; we must prevent another tragedy. Las Vegas was the 273rd verified mass shooting of 2017, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which rounds out to roughly one mass shooting per day this year. If now isn’t the right time to demand change, then when is? How much longer are we going to let the NRA and gun loving people hinder our ability to stop future tragedies with misguided fear? Most Americans actually support basic gun control legislation like universal background checks, banning assault style weapons and high-capacity magazines, and permit requirements for gun ownership, so now is the time call your representatives and demand change to make a safe America for all. We can only hope that this time America will decide to wake up and act.