You are seventeen and going to your first concert without your parents.

You've been waiting for what feels like your whole life for this moment. You put on your jean shorts with your favorite white crop top, tie a flannel around your waist, shove your feet into some cowgirl boots, and head out to your friend's car. They are barely old enough to drive you, but you feel like such an adult. You have your whole life ahead of you.

You dance through the day and night, getting more excited as you get one artist closer to Jason Aldean, your all time favorite. He's a few songs in when you hear the loud popping, it must be the pyrotechnics in his light show. Next thing you know you feel your best friend grab your arm with a death grip. Her white crop top isn't white anymore, it's blossomed into a dark red as she collapses to the ground. Everyone starts running and screaming. You don't really know what's happening yet, you can't leave your friend, but you can't stay. All you can do is run and hope she'll be ok.

This story echoes that of the thousands of concert goers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. My heart goes out to all of the victims and families that were impacted by this horrific massacre.

Since 2012 there have been over 1,500 mass shootings in the United States alone. I'm sure you can do the math, but that's more than 1,500 mass shootings in 5 years.

That girl in a white shirt and shorts could have been me. It could have been my friends. It could be my brother and his friends. It could be your daughter, your son, your sister, your parents.

It could be any one of us at any time.

Whether the events of this Las Vegas nightmare were connected to ISIS or not, it was the definition of what terrorism is.

We cannot allow these acts of horrible violence to continue.

I have always been the kind of person who sits on the fence between wanting serious gun regulation and wanting to protect our constitution, but things have come way too far.

Race, religion, gender, citizenship, and mental stability are not acceptable markers for whether or not somebody is a threat. all of these are very complex issues and I am not arguing that they don't ever play a role in very specific cases. I am simply arguing that anyone is capable of becoming a threat at any time and using these categories as a means of profiling is not a strong enough solution.

I can't help but notice what appears to be a sort of stalemate in the gun control debate. People on the extremes of both sides of the debate seem to have an all or nothing attitude regarding these regulations. While I see both arguments, it's time everyone stopped being so gosh darn stubborn and started trying to move in some sort of direction, any sort of direction. Whatever we are doing now clearly isn't working.

When the 2nd Amendment was first created, its intent was to create a level of balance between government and the republic. This was so that any sort of hostile dictatorship could be deterred. With the advancement of technology, we've rather outgrown this necessity. Many people still believe these weapons give us enough power to stop a government takeover, but with chemical, biological and nuclear warfare we wouldn't stand much of a chance.

I do understand that having a gun for hunting, or personal self-defense certainly has benefits, and I don't think that should necessarily be taken away from law abiding gun owners. With that said, we need to sort out a more consistent set of gun laws that would be federally applied to all 50 states.

As it stands now, the federal gun laws are rather lax which allows different states to determine what laws are best. Massachusetts gun laws, for example, are on the stricter side. The state of Massachusetts requires licensing for guns and has specific laws regarding the types of guns permitted and how they must be carried (concealed or visible). Some states, like Nevada, allow far more types of firearms and have fewer regulations on licensing and concealment of the weapons. Both states meet federal requirements, but their vast difference in individual laws makes it easier for things to fall through the cracks.

If we are going to slow down and prevent these sort of attacks, we have to be willing to meet somewhere in the middle.

We need to listen to both sides of the conversation concerning gun laws.

We need stronger gun laws on the federal level, but more importantly we need a single law system for obtaining and using dangerous weapons.

We need to make sure those who do have guns are taught how to properly use and store their guns to prevent potential theft or injury.

We need to put aside our opinions and notions of what is best for our own personal bubble lives, and consider the lives of others.

We need to think about the impact of gun violence on our youth.

We need to think about the impact of gun violence on our safety.

We need to stand together in the face of terrorism.

We need to help the victims of gun violence recover from their mental and physical trauma.

We need to support those who have lost loved ones as a result of gun violence.

We need to be a nation united, not divided.