The United States is trapped in its own iron fist in the form of gun laws that seem to appear more and more absurd with every passing day.

The country was rocked by two major shootings on September 10, as conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during his event at Utah Valley University before a lone gunman opened fire on students at Evergreen High School in Colorado a mere 4 minutes later, wounding two before turning the weapon on himself.

Kirk’s shooting has sparked heavy political discourse, with the cruel irony that he was engaging with a member of the audience on gun violence moments before the shot appearing at the forefront of a new wave of protest against current gun laws.

The Evergreen High shooting is just the latest installment in the never-ending horror story of tragedies in schools across the country, and for an international citizen living in the States, the overriding question is this: how on earth can this keep happening?

How many people must be senselessly murdered for the so called “Greatest Country on Earth” to rid itself of its preposterously lax control on gun ownership? For a country firmly at the forefront of international business and culture to inflict such suffering on its own people through political policy is bordering lunacy. In some states, an 18-year-old can purchase a rifle or a shotgun, but not an alcoholic beverage. Having grown up in Europe, this feels almost satirical to myself and countless others.

Even following the tragic killing of one of President Trump’s most vocal supporters, it seems inevitable that Charlie Kirk will become a martyr in the conservative opposition to revised gun control. As long as current policy remains, these horrors will persist and families will continue to be needlessly ripped apart. For the sake of this generation, the next and those yet to come, we must have change.