Pulse Night Club in Orlando Florida was the scene of one of the worst mass shootings and hate crimes in the history of the United States of America. A tragedy few could ever imagine. The collective response of the people of our country and all across the world has been incredible to say the least. The videos of hundreds of people lining up to donate blood and passionate Facebook posts in support of the LGBTQ Community of Orlando and in condemnation of the gun violence that plagues our country like no other flooded my news feeds, as I'm sure they did yours. Candle light vigils, moments of silence, and beautiful displays of Love and Solidarity were everywhere to be found. Having stared into the face of evil and darkness, we have responded only with love and light. But while love and light will help heal our wounds, they will not prevent new ones from opening. Only serious policy change can do that.

Whatever you call it, a mental health problem, a gun problem, a too many guns in the wrong hands problem, it doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is that the United States of America has more people die as a result of guns than any other nation in the world. Vox.com recently updated a report from last fall detailing exactly what this looks like. We have the highest rates of mass shootings, homicide by gun, and suicide by gun in the world. We also happen to be the country with the most guns in the world, which, in 2007 according to Vox, was 88.8 per 100 people. Something tells me that number has only gone up. I think, then, and Vox agrees with me, that there is no coincidence we have the most deaths by gun of any country in the world. For more information on gun violence in America, go check out the article linked above if you have not already, very well done by Vox.

This information is not new and it should not surprise you. As horrible as it is to say, what happened in Orlando should not have surprised you either. It was the worst tragedy of its kind, that much is certain, but mass shootings have become the norm in our country. Waking up on that Sunday morning, I had only a feeling of numbness, as if I expected it to happen. That cannot be the expectation, it simply cannot be. It is also safe to say, however, that I expected the outpouring of love we saw for Orlando in the days following. I expected those moments of silence and vigils to occur, for the beautiful acts of solidarity and the hundreds of people to donate blood. I expected people to passionately call for policy change in an effort to end these horrors all over social media. I expected all of that because it's what happens every time a mass shooting occurs. But if what I expect to happen continues, nothing will change.

Those outcries usually continue for a week or two. The country mourns and yells at the politicians to do something about it for a little while and then it's back to business as usual until the next shooting. Our federal government continues its partisan ways and refuses to pass any meaningful legislation. The Republicans claim we need more good guys with guns, the Democrats claim we need more gun regulations, they yell at each other for a while and then nothing happens. They do not enact policy change and continue their complicity in all of the gun deaths, by mass shooting, by homicide, and by suicide, that happen in our country more than any other. That is what has happened every time a mass shooting occurs.

We can blame Congress for this lack of action, and I do to some degree. It is their job to pass legislation to fix these kinds of issues, but for the last decade or so, they have not passed nearly any significant piece of legislation. The partisan divide, the influence of money in politics, the divisive and overly biased nature of media conversation, and many other things we as citizens have little control over, can be blamed for this in part, but not in full. We, as the American people, must accept some of the responsibility for this inaction as well.

When a mass shooting occurs, we hold our vigils, we passionately rant on Facebook and Twitter, and then a few weeks after the incident we move on. We fail to put any real pressure on the government to do its job and when it comes to something as politically difficult as gun violence, that is exactly what we cannot do. Facebook posts and moments of silence help us to deal with the pain of tragedy in the moment, but they do nothing to pressure our government to enact real policy change. If we really want policy change, we must demand it. We must demand that Congress pass meaningful legislation attempting to curb gun violence and death. Not only can we not allow another Orlando or Sandy Hook to happen, but we cannot allow our fellow Americans to keep killing each other and themselves everyday. Congress is to blame for their inaction, but we are to blame for our inaction as well.

So instead of posting on social media write a letter to your congress woman or man. Hold gatherings and protests in front of the capital building, pass local ordinances banning assault rifles and increasing mental health care. Do something! Congress has a role to play in the political process, but so do everyday citizens. If we want meaningful policy change we must start to do our part each and everyday instead of only when a tragedy occurs. We must take responsibility and truly demand our government act because if we don't, they most certainly will not.