It's not the first time that tragedy has hit the American Public. If you define "mass shooting" as any incident where four or more people are wounded or killed, then we've seen 136 mass shootings in 2016 SO FAR. Gunshot homicides totaled 8,124 in 2014, according to the F.B.I. Just last week the country mourned with Orlando after 49 individuals were killed and another 50 were injured, making the Pulse shooting one of the deadliest mass shootings that the United States has seen.

Posts flooded social media extending condolences to the families of those who lost their lives at Pulse nightclub. Vigils were held across the country at churches, on college campuses and in town squares. Article after article came out documenting evidence found during the investigation, the lives of the victims, and responses by politicians and celebrities. Another Facebook banner was created, and a moment of silence was held in the Senate. While all of these actions were beautiful in their own way and supporting the people affected by the Orlando massacre is important, op-ed pieces started to flood the news, questioning the motives of the shooter and arguing about how the nation's leaders need to combat terrorism or talk about gun control.

Then there were the posts on social media stating something along the lines of "Don't take away my rights I have from the Second Amendment! I need a gun to protect myself!" In a time of mourning and loss, it is important to reflect on how to move forward in an attempt to prevent further violence like the mass shooting in Orlando. However, the ignorance of people who are so concerned about their right to bear arms is repulsive. It's time to recognize that while terrorism may be a huge issue that the United States needs to think about combating, gun violence is such a dominant part of our culture and something has to be done to fix that.

The United States is unique in gun violence statistics when we look at the rest of the world. In Japan, it's about as likely to die from a gunshot wound as it is to die from a lightning strike-roughly one in ten million. Gun homicide rates have surpassed the rates of dying in a car crash. No other rich Western country comes close to the regularity of gun homicides in the United States.

Something does not add up. All the other Western Countries in this graph have comprehensive gun laws that make it more difficult for people to own guns. Now, the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution includes the "Right to Bear Arms," and the majority of politicians and citizens agree that this right does not have to be taken away. But the country has seen so much violence at this point, that we cannot afford another moment of silence, we do not want to see President Obama make a seventeenth speech after a mass shooting.

While the shooter in Orlando claimed to have ties to ISIS, he was also found to be on an F.B.I. watch list-yet he legally purchased two guns that he brought to the Pulse nightclub. It is unnecessary for the Second Amendment to be repealed, but comprehensive background checks and training have to become normal for gun owners.

In most states, in order to get a drivers' license, a person has to take a test to get a permit, have a certain amount of hours of driving lessons, and pass a road test to actually get their license. THEN they have to renew their license every few years or it is no longer valid. Car crashes are a leading cause of death, and because of that, laws are in place to attempt to make the roads a safer place. That's why people get their license taken away for Drunk Driving, and have to pay a fee to get their license renewed. Why is it easier to get a gun than it is to get a license? The probability of dying in a car crash is close to the probability of dying from a gunshot: this should not be the case. Logically, it should not be that difficult to set up some basic rules for obtaining a gun. Passing a background check and being trained in how to properly use, clean, and store guns sounds simple. Yet a large amount of citizens overthink this issue and believe their right to bear arms should not be infringed upon. It seems like a selfish thought, when basic gun control has the possibility of saving innocent lives.

In a recent episode of the Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Noah made a point about terrorism's link to the weapons the terrorists use. After hijacked planes crashed into the Twin Towers on 9/11, rules for flying became more strict and the no-fly list was expanded in an effort to prevent something like this from happening again. While people and systems are fallible, politicians did not just target terrorists and forget about the planes, but they reformed air travel to lessen the possibility of terrorists getting into planes with dangerous weapons. Noah points out that the United States does not want to think the same way when it comes to terrorism and guns. Using the same logic that the government used after 9/11, the next step should be to go after terrorist's weapons and make it harder for them to get weapons. Noah jokes, "ISIS without weapons is basically a blog." It seems like common sense to control the deadly weapon that is killing more people in America than in any other developed Western country.

On June 15th, Senator Chris Murphy took the Senate Floor and vowed to stay as long as he could for Congress to act on gun control legislation. After the filibuster was over, the Senator tweeted, "I am proud to announce that after 14+ hours on the floor, we will have a vote on closing the terror gap & universal background checks." The Senator, with support from many other Democrats, wanted to see action. Before the filibuster, many politicians and citizens were afraid that the United States would relapse the way it has in the past with other mass shootings. Mourn, reflect, talk about it, move on. Gun control legislation has been a long time coming and cannot be pushed aside anymore.

Hopefully this is not the last time we hear about the tragedy in Orlando. Hopefully people remember the terror brought onto innocent lives because of hatred, anger, and recklessness. Beyond the fact that gun violence has become so regular in American society, this particular incident was directed at the LGBTQ+ community. This is added to the list of school shootings and shootings like San Bernardino where a specific person or community is targeted. The one thing that is shared among all the people who have been victims of gun violence is this: they did not deserve to have their life taken away.

We cannot be the generation to perpetuate the cycle of hate. We cannot let homophobia ruin the lives of innocent people. Call it what you will-an act of terror or a hate crime-the LGBTQ+ community was targeted at Pulse in Orlando because a man with a gun did not understand the innocent lives he took. Because some people have a tendency to hate what they do not understand. We cannot let the hate of a few ruin the lives of beautiful people who are not different from someone who is heterosexual. Who we are as people is not defined by our gender or sexuality. Furthermore, targeting Muslims just because the shooter identified himself as an ISIS sympathizer is not going to solve the issue of gun violence. Homophobia and xenophobia are only going to create a divide among people in a country that is called a "melting pot" and praised for its diversity.

If common sense gun laws can help prevent people who should not have guns from getting guns, then maybe one day the United States will see a decrease in gun homicides instead of a steady increase. Maybe the number of speeches that future presidents will make about mass shootings can come to an end. Jimi Hendrix once said "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." Our world will not know peace until our society can learn to accept everyone for who they are. When leaders can learn to be humble and selfless, when the people can vote and govern without interference, when the poor can have opportunities to pick themselves up, when transgender individuals do not feel afraid to be themselves, when everyone can love who they want to love, when guns are no longer "easy to get," then maybe we will live in a society that we are proud of. Hatred gets us nowhere. We need to stand among the LGBTQ+ community as members and allies in times when misunderstanding causes a hateful individual to take the lives of innocent people for being who they are. If we want to see a safer society where the United States is not home to one-third of the world's mass shootings, we need to speak up about gun laws.