The week of February 12th, 2018 will forever be remembered as the week when 17 people were gunned down in a Florida high school.

Let that sink in.

17 students and teachers were murdered, along with many more injured, at their school.

As they all went about their peaceful day, a 19-year-old pile of human filth opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle, a firearm originally designed to slaughter commies in Vietnam. He bought the gun easily and completely legally despite making it exceedingly clear he should not be anywhere near a weapon of any kind. His online activity included bragging about killing animals, making far-right political comments, and saying he wanted to become famous for a mass shooting. The local sheriff’s office and the FBI were aware of the vile maggot’s mental instability and threat to others. The entire tragedy, along with every one before it, was avoidable. However, with the lack of political action and the biased ramblings of numerous public figures, more will not be.

The second-worst part of the last week and a half was the fact there was no national political news to cover. After so many teenagers and educators were maimed and killed, “our” elected representatives did virtually nothing. They weren’t clambering over themselves to introduce gun control legislation or donate existing campaign funds to the families of everyone affected. They didn’t pass a bill immediately boosting investments into mental health research and care. Nor did they mention how they (members of Congress and the president) have healthcare, a work environment free of guns, and law enforcement that actually protects them. They tweeted their thoughts and laughable prayers from safe, wood-paneled offices while counting the cash from corporations and deadly organizations like the National Rifle Association.

The NRA is nothing more than an organized crime outfit. Its sole existence is to sell and use guns, and they support that by owning politicians “like so many nickels and dimes.” In any other country, gunrunners who buy politicians and steal elections would be sent to jail. As they almost single-handedly prevent any gun control from being enacted, they should be held complicit in every gun crime that takes place. If the NRA was rightly treated like Cosa Nostra or MS-13, mass shootings would disappear, and the number of other gun crimes would plummet.

The recent political inertia is particularly egregious because our elected representatives are the only ones who can do anything about getting tools of war out of our communities, and they couldn’t bring themselves to do anything after the horrors of Sandy Hook. Since the 2016 Democratic convention, I have become more and more convinced electoral politics is a waste of time and the use of activism and nonprofit groups are what will affect true and lasting progress. Politicians have had plenty of opportunities to end the scourge of food deserts, protect the environment, fund school programs, etc., but they have always failed to do so. Putting time, money, and effort into electing those people and then waiting for them to act is fruitless. It is far more productive to put the same resources into fixing the issues now. The people, the ones who live in communities in need, those who see injustice every day, the people who comprehend what must be done, they are the ones who can move America forward. Heartbreakingly, they cannot take away people’s instruments of death. We cannot send Wobblies, Black Panthers, and Sierra Club members around the country to collect guns and prevent murderers from buying more. Only congressional legislation and law enforcement can do that job.

Due to the existence of the Second Amendment and the bastardized meaning given to it by slimy hypocrites like Antonin Scalia, we cannot rid America of every firearm. We can, however, severely limit the number and types of guns available, and restrict that availability to a much smaller population while respecting the spirit of the Second Amendment and being aware of its entire text, not only the second half. There are two ways to look at the well-regulated militia which is supposed to protect the people against a tyrannical federal government. The first is that the state National Guards are the militias and nobody not in service with a unit can obtain a gun. That would be perfect for gun control and fulfilling the wishes and ideals of the framers of the Constitution. Sadly, too many people love their killing machines so that will never wash. The other way to work within the Second Amendment is to view the entire population as the militia and have it be well-regulated. That would be more acceptable to most people and would allow our national leaders to enact wide-ranging, and constitutional, common sense gun legislation.

To keep everyone safe, here is what must be included in any congressional action:

• A minimum age limit of 25 for purchasing a gun or paraphernalia. If an 18-year-old is too immature to buy a beer, they are too immature to have an assault rifle. This will also generally limit the number of people owning a gun at any one time.
• A perpetual ban on all automatic and semi-automatic weapons.Do I really need to explain this one?
• A perpetual ban on any firearm that can be concealed in a pocket, waistband, purse, or backpack. Again, I shouldn’t have to say why this is necessary.
• A limit of five rounds per customer per month. This will go some way in limiting the number of people hit during a shooting event. Nobody needs to buy more than this amount in one go. If they need more to protect their home or hunt an animal, they are a lousy shot and a danger to the people around them, so they need to undergo more training.
• A carry limit of five rounds. No-one may have more than five rounds on their person or in their vehicle at any one time.
• No more than one gun per registered individual. One gun is plenty, and the fewer number of guns in a home the easier it is to keep them safe and to keep track of them. Collectors of antiques, etc. will not be affected provided their guns are, and will always be, incapable of being fired.
• Extensive background checks on everyone in the home. If just one person wishes to purchase a firearm, FBI and local law enforcement background checks will need to be completed on everyone in the home before the sale can be finalized. If anyone fails a check (not only the person buying the firearm), the gun will not be sold. This will work to prevent damaged teenagers from stealing their parents’ firearms and will keep guns away from those who should not be in the vicinity of one.
• A 100% federal sales tax on all gun and ammunition transactions. The money will beput into public education and healthcare. Much-needed funds will be raised while the number of people able to buy a gun will decrease.
• Gun shows will be just that: shows. Absolutely no sales will be made at any gun show. There will no longer be any way to get around background checks.
• A perpetual ban on private sales.Guns will only be sold at licensed and heavily insured physical stores. If people want to get rid of theirs, the only way will be to submit them to their local law enforcement office after which they will be destroyed.
• A national registry of gun owners.Anyone can perform a quick online search and see which sex offenders (and thus threats to the community) are in the area. The same should be done for owners of instruments of death.
• Strong punishments/deterrents.Breaking any of these rules will lead to the same consequences as a charge of attempted murder.
• A strict timetable for implementation and compliance.The legislation will go into effect before the ink of the president’s signature has dried. The owners of all now-illegal guns and their ammunition will have seven days to surrender them to law enforcement. After that period, they will be punished. Gun violence has been destroying this country for far too long and not another moment can be squandered.

Hunting rifles and shotguns are acceptable because (regulated and limited) hunting plays a role in pest control and residents of rural areas use it for sustenance. They can both be used to protect one’s property but cannot be concealed for use in a crime. Peaceful people can see someone with a long gun coming and take evasive measures. Neither can spit out dozens of rounds in a short amount of time or hold a large quantity of ammunition in one go.

There inevitably will be a formidable pushback against this kind of a plan. Proponents of an end to mass murder must turn their rage at recent developments (or the infuriating absence of developments) into a calculated and intelligent campaign against the vitriol, lies, and stupidity of pro-gun lunatics. Not a single comment from any gun advocate after a shooting tragedy should be given credence.

Their tried and trusted position is to blame mental health issues for all mass shootings. Mental health is a component because one cannot be a rational, loving human being and go out massacring people. Yet that alone cannot explain the rampant gun violence in America. Mental health problems can affect anyone regardless of socio-economic status, lifestyle, and, most important to this issue, geography. Millions of people in other countries suffer from the same ailments as those living in America, but they don’t have multiple shootings every day. The only difference is that those in other countries do not have access to guns. If they get fired from their job, they cannot shoot up their former place of employment. If they get expelled from school, they cannot spray the classrooms with bullets. If their significant other ends the relationship, they cannot kill their entire family in only seconds. Mental health care does need more investment and more research, but we should not be pulled into discussing that instead of plainly and simply getting rid of guns. We should also remember that the public figures blaming gun violence on poor mental health are the same ones who repeatedly fail to improve the quality and accessibility of mental health care.

There is an argument that banning guns will create a slippery slope of banning everyday items because they too can be used as weapons. That is nonsense. We are not talking about making dangerous objects illegal, we are asking for a ban on weapons of mass destruction. A knife is not an instrument for stabbing people, it is a utensil for food preparation. A hammer is not an object of destruction, it is a tool for building homes. Guns have always been designed, constructed, and sold to kill living things. They have no other use. They serve no other purpose. Removing them from society will have no effect other than making everyone safer. No freedoms will be lost and no arbitrary government control over other aspects of life will materialize.

Scores of celebrities came out to label gun advocates as pro-slaughter. They sent gun lovers into a rage and compelled them to offer vacuous reasons for why they love firearms but are still against murder. One camp relies on the defense of owning guns for sport. None of them are trying to enter the biathlon at the Winter Olympics. When they say “sport,” they really mean “entertainment.” If they buy and use semi-automatic assault rifles for entertainment, just how low are their IQs? Why can’t they read a book, go to the cinema, or go hiking in their free time? I liked playing “army” and “soldiers” when I was a kid, but I grew out of it. We shouldn’t be looking at moderate gun control, or none at all, for the sake of a few people who get their jollies playing with military-grade weapons.

The other defense is personal and home protection. If guns were necessary to keeping down crime and maintaining social order, America’s crime rates would be extremely low, and everyone would be living together in perfect harmony. None of that is reality. The United States has by a long way the most guns per capita and is home to almost half of the world’s privately-owned firearms. Despite those astonishing facts, America is the leader among developed nations in homicides, with gun-related murders at a rate 25 times that of other countries. There were almost 100,000 reported rapes in 2016. Robberies, property crimes, and petty infractions occur at similar rates to the rest of the developed world. If guns kept people safe and prevented crime, why is America so crime-ridden in both relative and absolute terms? It’s because guns do not keep people safe and do not prevent crimes. They kill people and allow more scumbags to commit more crimes. What stops a bad guy with a gun isn’t a good guy with a gun; it’s taking the guns away.

A perennial, and disturbing, proposal for tackling school shootings is the arming of teachers. Let’s take a second and forget about being American and think about what is being debated. Teachers walking around with guns. Cute little preschoolers being surrounded day in, day out by weapons. High schoolers seeing their role models constantly armed and on edge. How can anybody with any shred of intelligence entertain that idea for even a millisecond? It doesn’t need deep analysis or a nuanced conversation, so I will quickly outline the negatives for the halfwits who think armed teachers will prevent children being killed at school.

• It would be entirely possible for a student to grab a teacher’s gun and use it.
• At best, a handful fewer students will be killed or injured per mass shooting. An armed teacher won’t stop a maniac from walking in and opening fire in the first place.
• We don’t want our teachers to work in a sustained state of conflict-readiness. They need to focus solely on teaching our future generations.
• Teachers shouldn’t be forced to carry guns. What about their freedom to act like evolved, free-thinking human beings?
• Designated armed teachers do not provide “protection” to the entire school and will leave the premises un”protected” when they are sick or on a training course.
• More guns = more killings. As I’ve already shown, an increase in guns does not result in a decrease in violence.
• When law enforcement officers burst into a school and see someone holding a gun, they will shoot. They will have no way of discerning between the good guys and the bad guys. An already hectic situation will only become a bigger bloodbath.
• The costs of purchasing the guns and training the teachers would be exorbitant. When every public school is underfunded to some degree, any additional educational funding should be for books, more teachers, more classrooms, musical instruments, sports equipment, etc.
• Arming teachers does not stop mass shootings in other public spaces. Nor does it do anything to stop all other kinds of gun-related crimes.

Everyone who believes civilians should be allowed to purchase and carry around assault rifles is pro-slaughter. To think handguns should remain legal is to be pro-murder and be perfectly okay with robberies and sexual assaults at gunpoint. The individuals who consider anything other than hunting rifles and shotguns to be necessary are dangerous members of society and are playing a role in continuing gun violence across America.

If you are on the fence about how gun control should be approached, think about the parents of schoolchildren. They should worry about their children coming home with good grades and social skills, not about whether they will come home at all. If you are filled with anger about all the mass shootings and crime in this country, ruminate on what will alleviate your rage. Hopefully it will be the eradication of handguns and semi-automatic weapons.

The freedom of children to be safe at school and for everyone to go through life without fear of being shot is much more important than an individual’s right to own a gun. As we move into the future, it is imperative we think of freedom on the communal or societal level. The elevation of individual rights over the good of the many cannot continue. The philosophy of “rugged individualism” gives us conservative and neoliberal governments. It creates artificial divisions in humanity. It leads to isolation, anger, and violence. Starting to care about and for each other will put us on a road to a safe, healthy, and happy society. We will all progress when we all progress together.