We’re told now is not the time. Honor the dead. Pray for the injured. Support the LGBTQ community. Gratitude for first responders. Mourn. Thoughts and prayers.

After Newtown. Virginia Tech. Aurora. San Bernardino. Columbine. Umpqua. More Americans are killed by gun violence on our own soil in the past 50 years than lost in all our wars. We own more guns per capita than any other nation on earth. Thoughts and prayers.

How many days must we mourn before we can talk about gun violence?

First we talk about motives. That helps prevent these shootings, right? This shooter was born here. Claimed to hate gays, but apparently hated himself. Domestic abuser who hated women’s freedoms. But, let’s focus on radical Islam, since this shooter gave that last minute shout-out to ISIS. Let’s deplore the “other” rather than change our gun culture. Let’s excoriate President Obama for not saying the words “radical Islam!” Because that solves… something.

Except for Santa Barbara. Born here, hated women. Colorado Planned Parenthood – born here, hated women’s reproductive rights. Charleston – born here, hated African Americans. Newtown: Born here, hated… first graders? Aurora, hated moviegoers. Tuscon… Congresswomen? San Bernardino, “radical Islam!” — Bingo! See? Changes everything.

Why motive? Consider the single worst case of modern domestic terrorism, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. 168 dead, 19 of them children. In the aftermath, law enforcement and the media sought elusive Middle East connections. But the bomber proved to be American-born, Christian, a veteran who hated the federal government. Motive yielded nothing towards prevention.

Where are the common threads? Other than Oklahoma City, each of these events featured guns, most legally obtained, often military-style assault weapons with military-grade ammunition. Adopting common sense restrictions would reduce the high death toll. In Orlando, the perpetrator was a known domestic abuser. Why could he legally obtain a gun?

Universal background checks and consistent standards would keep many guns out of the wrong hands. But Congressional leaders, sincerely offering thoughts and prayers, refuse to fund the ATF, blocking a director since 2010. They actually prohibit the CDC from researching guns and public health, and disallow the use of anything but paper files in performing background checks. They refuse to adopt federal checks, or limits on assault weapons.

Why? Follow the money. Sen. Susan Collins, with NRA campaign contributions totaling $19,800, to date offers scant leadership in addressing gun violence. Congressman Bruce Poliquin, NRA contributions already $6,950, openly opposes common sense gun reform. Sen. King and Congresswoman Pingree are not beholden to the NRA, and vote accordingly, but to date, the NRA’s funneled almost $2.9 million to current members of Congress, mostly Republicans. No wonder so many of our elected officials offer thoughts and prayers instead of leadership, and point the finger somewhere else.

Follow the money. Guns are big business! We have the highest number of guns per person in the world, by a lot. Record sales since the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre began claiming President Obama would confiscate everyone’s guns. Happy days are here again, at least for the gun market. Sales spike after every shooting, spurred on by the NRA, claiming that each massacre will result in, you guessed in, confiscation. If only there were more guns, we’d all be safe.

Follow the money. The NRA’s actual members, hunters and sportsmen, support common sense gun rules. But membership dues don’t quite pay the bills for the non-profit NRA’s lobbying and LaPierre’s compensation, at over a million a year. Contributions from gun manufacturers fill the till.

In Maine, we have the chance to make common sense improvements to our gun laws this November. Background checks will help stop what law enforcement officials know is a gun pipeline from states like Maine, where purchasing a firearm is too easy, to those with better regulations. While the NRA and their sycophants claim that Maine is a safe state that does not need these checks, our high domestic violence homicide rate and our law enforcement officials know the real story: guns are purchased here by people who are legally barred from having them. But we’re up against the NRA, which buys our Congress, throws millions at state-level races and citizen initiatives, and is gearing up to spend the next 5 months lying.

Fittingly, in church on Sunday we read the prophet Micah: What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

As citizens of every faith, every community, we are called to do justice. Thoughts and prayers are not enough when we know this will happen again. Let us act, then, doing justice, remembering Eddie Justice, 30, beloved son of Mina Justice, who spent his last hour hiding, pleading, for someone to help. “Mommy I love you” he texted, “I’m going to die.”

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Jackie Sartoris is a volunteer with Mainers for Responsible Gun Ownership. She lives in Brunswick.