Thoughts and prayers. This is one of, if not the most, common response to the mass shootings that plague our country. The fact that there even needs to be a common reaction to a mass shooting is absurd, yet it’s become the norm in America. In the past 1,870 days, there has been a total of 1,624 mass shootings in the U.S, the most recent one being at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. No developed country in the world comes close to the level of gun violence experienced in America. But why hasn’t anything been done?

Start at the very beginning, specifically, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms”. This part of the 2nd Amendment  is widely defended as one of the most important freedoms given to the American people. It’s also the most deadly. While there is nothing inherently wrong with giving people the right to buy, own and sell guns, there is definitely something wrong with a 19 year-old legally buying a semi-automatic style weapon. Even more frightening, he was able to pass the background checks and mental health screening required to purchase the gun. That same 19 year-old went on to kill 17 people and wound 15 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Politicians and citizens alike resort to a very similar stance of, condolences, mourning, and thoughts and prayers, then going back to everyday life as if nothing has happened. And while victims need support from the masses after experiencing such tragedies, nothing is going to change if people don’t actively try to make others aware of the crisis we are facing. America has being to accustomed to letting politicians take almost full rein, with lots of help from the National Rifle Association, over gun control. The NRA spent an estimated $54 million during the 2016 election to help Republicans gain control of Congress and the White House, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group.

“I think we need to pray, and our hearts go out to these victims. And I think, as public-policy makers, we don’t just knee jerk before we even have all the facts and the data,” Paul Ryan said.

He embodied the contradiction that politicians present after almost every shooting that makes national headlines. Many people, especially Republicans, scrutinize the politicization of mass shootings and it’s victims so soon after it occurs, but when is the right time to do so? The people effected need time to mourn, but if nothing is done right away, when will anything change? Ryan received $49,650 directly from the NRA, as well as an unknown larger amount spent on campaign ads and other forms of support that he benefits from.

Politicians such as Ryan and others like Marco Rubio, who is one of the top beneficiaries of the NRA, are a long ways away from understanding how the masses feel about gun control and their right to be safe in public spaces such as schools. They respond with a tweet in which they send some thoughts and prayers, and then will go back to receiving money from a group that does not care whether or not more kids die from being on the receiving end of an AR-15. Thoughts and prayers will not save anyone from becoming the next victims to gun violence, taking real action towards gun reform will.