It’s become a shameful pattern that’s grown to be as American as apple pie or baseball.

A mass shooting occurs in our country. Then, politicians and people in the media debate gun control for about a month. Then, we move on to other targets and issues, forgetting that nothing has been solved, and then the entire situation repeats itself, with more people dead and wounded and mourning for their losses.

Will anything be different after Sunday’s massacre in Orlando? Probably not, even though it has been reported as the most deadly shooting in American history.

Here’s the thing: if something isn’t done, soon this will be the second deadliest mass shooting, then the third, then the fourth and so on and so forth.

Some say this isn’t a gun issue, but it definitely is. The person who committed this awful crime, and it’s being debated now if he had sworn some kind of allegiance to ISIS, was an American. He got a gun, legally, even though he was the subject of two FBI investigations. Because that shouldn’t hinder someone from being able to buy powerful weapons, right? And not only did he get a gun, he got a semi-automatic weapon that was capable of firing shots rapidly. One that isn’t even necessary to be owned by a citizen, but because we worship and adore an amendment that is poorly written and was intended to only concern muskets that were horrendously unreliable, this person was able to walk in to a store and purchase this terrible weapon, the same kind of AR-15 that’s been used in past massacres, such as the ones in San Bernardino, Sandy Hook, and Aurora.

More sensible gun laws are necessary in this country. After every mass shooting, countless people offer their prayers and condolences. That’s fine, but it isn’t enough. If you’re fed up with this endless cycle of destruction, do something about it. Pick and vote for the candidates in your states that are on the side of preventing this from happening so goddamn often. There are free websites (such as www.opensecrets.org) where you can look up how much a candidate has received from groups, such as the NRA. It’s safe to assume that if your representative goes on to Twitter or Facebook and writes about how the people affected by these crimes are in their thoughts and prayers, but are receiving thousands upon thousands of dollars from the NRA that they won’t be doing a thing to prevent it from happening again. And in the 2014 election cycle alone, the NRA donated $809,462 to candidates. That may not seem like much, but spread the wealth and it’s just enough to provide incentive to not take on any legislation concerning gun control.

I firmly believe that this issue is going to fall in to the laps of the next generation. Our response should be responsible, unlike the one being taken now. And it should be, considering that if you’re 20 years old right now, you have come of age in a nation that lives in fear because a lone gunman can go in to any spot and open fire for whatever reason. We’ve seen the terror at Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, San Bernardino, Fort Hood, and Charleston. I could go on, but it’s too depressing. The point is, we’ve grown up with this being a thing that happens. I hope that it doesn’t make us too used to it to keep us from doing anything about it, because it’s clear that nothing sensible will be done any time soon.

I won’t type the gunman’s name, because too often we see the glorification of these people in the media. I also won’t make any assumption about the victim’s sexualities, because whether one agrees with their lifestyle or not is inconsequential. They were Americans, who were enjoying a Saturday night out, as many of us probably were at the same time. It could’ve been anywhere. Another person with a gun wouldn’t have stopped it. Only one thing could have, and it will be up to us to join other countries with gun control laws to break the cycle and end this mindless violence once and for all.