Last Thursday, a gunman killed nine people at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College. This tragedy, far from shaking me at my very core, elicited a oh-this-again reaction from me. I am not alone in this — as President Obama noted in a moving speech, “we’ve become numb to this.”

Later that night, I found that nearly 500 fatal shootings had occurred this year in New York City alone. And in Washington, DC, 120 gun homicides have taken place this year — a 148 percent increase compared to last year.

Yet scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed, some of my friends vocalized a laissez-faire perspective of the gun control debate. Some posts try to depoliticize gun tragedies and silence those rightly opposed to the gun violence that continues to persist. “Tonight, we mourn. Leave politics out of this,” one reads. Another post admonished supporters of tighter gun control. “Stop talking about gun control, those people have families, how could you?”

I grew up around guns, and frequently take trips to the local publicly funded outdoor shooting ranges in my home state of Missouri. I understand gun culture; members of my family have served in the U.S. military, and some are lifetime members of the National Rifle Association. My family has handled guns for generations — but not without risk.

Before I was ever allowed to hold a gun, I was told the story of a great uncle who accidentally killed his younger brother by neglecting to check that the area was clear before shooting tin cans off a fence. I was also taught that guns are a privilege that should only be granted to those educated on how to properly handle both guns and themselves. My father is a clinical psychologist, and it is clear that people mentally afflicted by disease should not be granted unfettered access to deadly weapons.

Mourning may seem like a good excuse to postpone debate, but how we handle this mourning affects our entire nation. Mourning is not an excuse to avoid politics; when handled properly, mourning can fuel change and justice. We don’t tell those outraged at sexual assault to grieve quietly; we don’t tell those hurt by drunk drivers to tend to their wounds quietly. We don’t tell the mothers of black men and women who are shot in the street by the police to simmer down, at least not if we want justice.

Our country must not sit back and do nothing in the face of the tragedy of school shootings if we want to put an end to them. Action is required, and must come from all corners of the political spectrum. We have already tackled important issues including same-sex marriage. Gun control should be next.

Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them. 

A version of this article appeared in the October 5 print edition. Email Laura Adkins at [email protected].