What will it take?

Another shooting. Another massacre. Lots of innocent people dead. Again.

And we see all of the same things. Again. Posts filled with grief and outrage. Endless variations on “We are Orlando” or “Fuck the NRA” or “This madness must stop!” New icons to show solidarity.

But we all know what happens next. And very soon. Because we’ve seen that so very many times as well. The news blitz tails off and our attention moves to other things. Because school is out, and things have gotten kind of crazy. Or school just started, and things have gotten kind of crazy. Or Lollapalooza is in town this weekend. Or damn, wasn’t that episode of Game of Thrones last night awesome?

And we who are left go back to our lives, as our shock and outrage slowly fade, to be replaced by new concerns. Some of us less easily than others, but we do. Knowing that it will happen again. Next time in a theater. Or a school. Or a park. We don’t know where or exactly when, but we know deep down that it will, and we mentally cross our fingers, hoping that it won’t be us or someone we know that people will be outraged for the next time.

But what will it take for any of us to say “No. Not this time. I am NOT letting go of this. I am NOT going back to my life until something real and substantial is done to keep this sort of thing from happening again.”?

And whatever it takes, if we haven’t experienced it by now, can we really expect that the next time will somehow be the tipping point? Or the time after that? If not this time, what other future can we look forward to but an endless repetition of the same tragic events?

What will it take?