On Sunday night I went to a concert in Birmingham, AL. It was a small venue, not a huge band, and there was a surprising amount of 15-year-olds present. I chose not to watch the concert from the pit but rather from a small balcony overlooking right side of the stage. The stairs leading up to the balcony had a large exit door at the bottom, which was primarily used for individuals to go outside to smoke. I found myself watching the door and each time it opened I would mentally assess the person entering to decide if they were a threat.

When the concert was over and I was walking to the car, which was one block down from the venue, I stared with wide eyes looking toward the car, then toward the street, to the buildings I was passing. Walking and hoping that nothing would happen before I could reach the car.

Nothing happened that night in Birmingham, AL, but it did in Las Vegas. It did in Orlando, San Bernardino, Charleston, and on and on.

So I ask, how do we protect ourselves from these acts of violence?

To help me feel safe I am told to not be in public alone, especially at night. I am told to be aware of my surroundings, pour my drinks myself, stay in well-lit areas.

But what happens when I go to see my favorite band at a music festival, go out with my friends to a club, even just going to class? What advice would you have given to the people on the Las Vegas Strip that night?

The only way to prevent things like Vegas from happening it to control the guns in this country. We can no longer dismiss discussions like this as an overreaction to recent events. We can no longer stand by and not talk about this issue. America has a gun problem.

The facts are that 3% of adults in the U.S. own half of the guns in the U.S. The other 50% belongs to 19% of adults. That means that a whopping 78% of American adults don’t own any guns. On average, that 3 percent of adults own 17 guns apiece, which, while a rough estimate, is a terrifying number.

The man who killed 59 people in Las Vegas had 47 guns, 33 of which were purchased in the past year. You would think that someone purchasing 33 guns in a year would set off some kind of red flag. Except for it wouldn’t because the government isn’t keeping track. You can’t continue to burst into flames at the words ‘gun control’ and grip so hard onto your second amendment rights when the second amendment literally says that firearms should be “well regulated.”

You should want more gun regulation.

You should want to prevent mass shootings in this country.

We should be able to walk down the street with one less fear in our minds.

This conversation should no longer have to ride a wave of consciousness, only peaking in the midst of a tragedy. There is a reason that this problem continues to surface and that’s because it’s a HUGE problem.

We cannot silence what happened in Vegas this time.