When it comes to mass shootings, everyone seems to agree that doing nothing is not the answer to stopping them - we obviously need to make a change, but how? There are a large range of topics and factors included in the mass-shooting debate, but these two seem to be the most prominent and both contain points of common ground for Americans.

Gun Control

There is a struggle among Americans about the topic of gun control because of the Second Amendment, but a large number of people believe that improving it is the key to solving the mass-shooting epidemic. Those who are for advancing gun control say that gun laws should be stricter to avoid “gun-show loopholes," to stop people with domestic violence backgrounds getting their hands on guns, and to raise the purchasing age to counteract young school shooters. Investing in the improvement of gun control would also mean more rigorous background checks, which include researching a person’s mental health history and possibly the banning semi automatic weapons or “weapons of war."

Banning semi automatic weapons or at least making them very difficult to obtain is very much a point of common ground with Americans when debating about gun control - even if someone relies on a gun in order to hunt and feed their family, they have no need for a weapon that shoots hundreds of bullets in under a minute. After the Las Vegas shooting that killed 58 people and injured over 500 more, there has been a resounding consensus among Americans that a change must occur to keep these weapons out of the wrong hands.

Mental Health

Though already included as a red flag, mental health in background checks can also be a solution all Americans can get behind. There is a pattern, especially among school shooters, of the shooter having a troubled childhood. If funds could be invested in mental health programs that work to identify at-risk children in order to support them properly, it could make a difference in the number of mass shooters that America sees each year. There seems to be less heated debate (unlike gun control) among Americans about supporting programs that help broken homes and those with children who’ve faced tragedies - so this is another potential point of common ground for long-term mass shooting solutions.

Each week that goes by without America making a definitive change, another mass shooting happens. Step up and let your representative know they need to reach common ground on a mass shooting solution soon before any more lives are lost.