On the morning of Monday, September 16, Aaron Alexis, a contractor hired by the US Navy for Internet maintenance, walked into the Navy Yard, a public navy base in Washington, DC, with a shotgun and started shooting. He killed twelve and injured eight. Police arrived and killed him in a standoff.

Sadly, this scenario is all too familiar for America. Since 2009, there have been twenty mass public shootings. The incidents at Aurora, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook Elementary School are forever etched in our memory. And with every shooting, the usual stories are written: a blow-by-blow account of the attack, a detailed biography of the shooter (or shooters), and, most importantly, another round of editorials on gun control. Judging by the fact that these article are still being written, these editorials, and statements by liberal politicians, have failed.

Guns kill approximately 11,000 Americans every year and around 20 mass shootings take place annually. These numbers should be enough to make anyone sick with worry for their children, spouse or other loved ones. Unfortunately, purchasing a gun is as easy as buying a dog. Two days before the shooting, Alexis went to a gun range and bought a Remington 870 shotgun and 24 rounds of ammunition, which he would later use to kill and injure Navy employees and civilians. The range made him undergo a federal background check, which he passed. In August, Alexis was exhibiting signs of schizophrenia, paranoia and sleep disorder, police reported. He filed a complaint from his hotel room in Rhode Island saying people were talking to him through the ceiling and walls, sending microwave vibrations through his body to deprive him of sleep.

How did this not show up in the federal background check? He was given security clearance by the Navy, which allowed him to get into the Yard. If they had done a more thorough check, they would have revoked his clearance and, maybe, the shooting would never have occurred. NRA lobbyists and conservative activists and politicians will argue that claim. But isn’t the blame also on the range? He definitely wouldn’t have killed as many people if he had had a different weapon. Because of the feasibility in accessing a shotgun, commonly classified as an assault weapon, twelve graves are freshly dug, ten innocent people are in hospitals and twenty-two groups of families and friends are devastated.

This argument is made every single time a shooting is nationally publicized. But, nothing changes. Why is that? Largely because of the NRA. The National Rifle Association, with five million members, is the largest lobbying organization in the country and has an enormous influence over voting conservatives because Republicans seem to consistently stand and vote against gun control.

As gun advocates, they believe Americans have the right to bear arms through the 2^nd Amendment of the Constitution. The law itself states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” What does this mean? A militia is a military made up of citizens. Did the Founding Fathers give the people permission to own guns to overthrow the government if necessary? Judging by the absurd lies concocted about President Obama daily by media like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly, most conservatives would readily agree to this suggestion.

Okay, fine, the Constitution says you can have guns. But, does it really say you can have extremely powerful guns, such as Alexis’ shotgun? And why are citizens allowed to own and operate high-powered, automatic guns designed to quickly slaughter? I believe that Americans should only own low-powered hunting rifles and non-automatic handguns for the purpose of self-defense of their household. There is no sane reason why a civilian should have something as powerful as an AK-47. No one can make a convincing argument to dispute this fact. But, why can the conservatives not see that? Do they not feel for the parents of kids murdered by gun violence? Maybe they just do not have the personal experience. Not even the January 2011 shooting spree in Tucson, Arizona, which injured their fellow Congress member, Gabrielle Giffords, who suffered brain damage, galvanized Republican Congress members into action. So what will?

No matter what you believe, every American feels for the families of gun violence victims. No one wants to bury his or her loved one. So, the bottom line is that even though we have the right to own guns, we must do all in our power to prevent more of these tragedies. In the future, no one will be killed while watching the new Batman movie. No little first-grader will be scared to come to school. The violence must end. Whatever you think, you should concede to that point. The saying goes, if the people lead, the leaders will follow. Only, if we as a nation stand up and say that we will tolerate this violence no longer can change be achieved.