February 14, 2018, marked the most recent American school shooting of 2018. 17 people were killed. 14 more people were injured. The attack lasted a total of six minutes and the perpetrator, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, used an AR-15 assault rifle. The immediate aftermath of the shooting had the characteristics of a textbook shooting reaction—outrage from pro-gun control politicians, “thoughts and prayers” from pro-Second Amendment politicians, and an overall outpouring of grief for the loss of so much potential, so much life, so much humanity.

It’s sad, isn’t it? School shootings can be considered “textbook”.

That’s what they are in America, though. Our last horrific school shooting took place mere weeks ago, on January 24th in Kentucky. 16 people wounded, 2 of them dead. Popular statistics touted by gun-control activists claiming that the Stoneman Douglas shooting is the 18th this year are actually incorrect but the very fact that school shootings of this magnitude continue to happen in a developed, first world country is shocking and disappointing, to say in the least.

But these things happen, right? These things are the price we must pay for freedom, after all.

Unfortunately, though, there’s a slight issue with that argument. Let’s use the Constitution as an example, because it’s basically the sacred text of the U.S. – the right to bear arms is the Second Amendment, part of the bill of rights. And that’s all well and good, except the right to life is unalienable, definitionally one of the three ideals our founding fathers worked for every American to possess: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The right to own guns should never outrank people’s right to life.

I wish the debate was as simple as this, but it obviously isn’t. The sad thing about logic is that it seems radical when one is not well acquainted with it; that’s why the Stoneman Douglas students who are lobbying for change and stricter gun regulations are being labeled as crisis actors and having their experiences discredited. And while I applaud every single one of the students who has stood up to our government and dared to tell the world exactly what is wrong with it, I fear that nothing will change.

Columbine happened. Sandy Hook happened. Orlando happened. Las Vegas happened. And after every single one of these tragedies, our government decided that this is simply the price Americans are expected to pay for our freedom.

So yes, I agree wholeheartedly with those who say, “This isn’t a gun problem, this is a culture problem.” It is. The fact is that America is so fond of reminiscing fondly on the past, that we have forgotten to mind the present and look to the future. Machine guns did not exist in the era in which the Constitution was written; we should not make the mistake of believing that our Constitution should not evolve along with the times.

It has evolved before–all those except white, land-owning men can thank the amendment process for that. And gun control need not be equated with gun prohibition–all anyone asks is that the government make it more difficult for troubled 19-year-olds with disciplinary issues and possibly even psychological trauma to get their hands on a machine gun.

Far more eloquent and passionate words have been said about this topic, and still nothing changes. But this is only the nature of something as enduring and momentous as culture; it doesn’t change with a single march or a single speech. It changes slowly but surely, and we have now begun to see the metamorphosis.

It came too late for the children who have died in school shootings and people will continue to be hurt by irresponsible use of firearms. The future belongs to us–we owe it to ourselves and our brothers and sisters to carry on this momentum.