Dear Angels,

I am so sorry that the quotidian activity of taking a trip to the movie theater ended not with the scrolling of credits but instead with the dreadful conclusion of death and horror.

I am so sorry that the beautiful adventure of first grade didn't end with a proud hug from your parents, but with the dejected termination of your lives.

I am so sorry that amicably gathering at church finished in the shrills of murder and not in the harmonious songs of community.

I am so sorry that after achieving so much and making it so far, your days as college students didn't end with a well-earned diploma in hand, but with the pain of loss.

I am so sorry that on a weekend meant to celebrate your identities, you didn't end in the embraces of your partners and loved ones, but in the arms of death's cold finality.

I am so sorry to the victims who aren't shot down in mass casualties, but in singular events that have somehow turned so common that they don't even meet the public's eyes.

I am so sorry that I have so many of you to apologize to. I am so sorry your fellow citizens have made no progress in efforts to prevent these horrific events from occurring and reoccurring and reoccurring. I am so sorry that we haven't learned the consequences of this amendment drafted in a time where the idea of a weapon with the capability of murdering mass amounts of innocent people could even be fathomed. I am so sorry that we disassociate these murderers from our society, acting like they're not our fault, like they must be foreign radical people, meanwhile, sometimes they are homegrown Americans with mental illnesses. I am so sorry that we neglect to look to our allied countries to understand how they could have eight mass shootings in 20 years yet we've had nearly as many mass shootings as days in the year of 2016 thus far.

I am so sorry that we repeat and repeat and repeat the same cycle over and over again: a mass shooting occurs, social media lights up, the president gives a speech, it's all we hear and see and think for a while, then it stops. Then it happens again.

Something has to be done. Our words are well intended, are prayers are much needed, our thoughts are important. But it is our actions that could suppress this perpetual trend. It is fine to own a gun. It is not fine to hand them out to the mentally ill or those with severe criminal records more easily than we do a driver's license. There is no good reason why it should be simpler to purchase a machine constructed to kill and destroy mass crowds than it is for innocent, peaceful transgender people to use a bathroom. Some don't believe that more regulation could help us, but at this point, we cannot keep going as we always have. The system we have now is not working. Something has to be done.

Unfortunately, our generation has been increasingly branded as a hateful, angry, violent group of people. There will always be hate and anger and violence in the world. However, we have a decision to make. We can allow these traits to define our generation, or we can allow these traits to strengthen us as units in an effort to combat such pain-inflicting actions with love. There is no returning the lives stolen; however, there are ways to prevent more from suffering the same fate, and it is through understanding, change, and love.

We cannot allow the lives of those lost through gun violence to simply be sorrowful events that we mourn then move on from. We must, in the name of those lost, in the name of those they left behind, try something to break this dreadful and disgusting trend.