After terrifying, tragic massacres such as the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, I watch in further grief as deluges of philosophical conversations about why this happened unfold on social media.  I watch in grief not only because I mourn for the victims and their families, but because I know this is simply painful history repeating.  The conversations, outrage and calls for change will eventually slow to a drizzle before drying up altogether.  And while many will remember the incident, time will mute the discussion for those who did not personally know individuals killed, or who don’t identify with the group of individuals that was targeted, until the next tragedy.

It is exhausting that we have these discussions over and over again with no change to show for all of the discourse.  It is the definition of insanity according to Einstein—doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  The United States is a nation of mostly good people; of people who choose love over hate, inclusion over oppression, and peace over violence.  But it is also a nation of passive activism—an oxymoron meant to describe the fervor with which people denounce such abhorrent acts of terror and violence and their concurrent, repeated failure to act or affect any real change.

Many believe legislation banning assault weapons like the AR-15 won’t keep them from the hands of criminals.  Many believe criminals will find a way to obtain banned weapons on the black market.  This cynical view of gun reform is simply a poor excuse for doing nothing.  It sends the message that fears of failure should govern all effort.

After tragedies like the Pulse massacre, we must ask ourselves tough questions as a nation.  We must then seek to answer those questions.  And finally, we must ensure that we never have to ask those same questions again.  We must keep what happened at the Pulse alive and at the forefront of conversation until legislation that at least attempts to prevent similar incidents is passed.

What harm is caused by legislation that bans assault weapons like the AR-15, eliminates the gun show loophole, increases the scope and efficiency of background checks, bans sales of guns to suspected terrorists, and mandates a waiting period before the purchase of any gun?  Are regulations such as these truly such a grave infringement on our rights that we are willing to reject them over the possibility that they might save lives?  Is our reverence for guns really greater than our reverence for human life?

It is my belief that any gun control legislation inspired from heinous mass murders of unarmed civilians is not an attack on responsible gun owners.  It is not an attack on the hunters and recreational gun enthusiasts, or an attempt to revoke the 2nd Amendment.  Rather, such legislation is a measure of protection.  It is an attempt to secure public safety.  It is an effort to ensure mass murders such as these never happen again, because assault weapons are useless in hunting anything other than humans in masses.

Gun control legislation aims to manage risks associated with a preserved right.  And if the legislation falls short—if we continue to experience similar incidences of gun violence and mass shootings at the same frequency and magnitude as before the legislation, then we can at least say that we tried.  We will know that the gun reform legislation is not enough and we will re-evaluate from there.  But we will never know if it’s possible to prevent these senseless tragedies if we never try.