Post submitted by former HRC Digital Media Manager Helen Parshall

It’s been one week since a gunman shot and killed five journalists in Annapolis.

It’s been just shy of five months since 17 students, faculty and teachers were slaughtered in Parkland.

The worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history happened nine months ago in Las Vegas, when 58 people were gunned down and nearly 500 injured at a country music festival.

And it’s been just over two years since a gunman took the lives of 49 people – most of them young, LGBTQ and Latinx – at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

The list goes on and on.

How many times will our hearts race when the news breaks and we gulp back tears with the fear that it could have just as easily been us? How many lives and families will be torn apart by this seemingly endless nightmare of gun violence?

Whether in a school, a church, a nightclub or a newsroom, gun violence affects every community across America and demands the attention of our lawmakers.

In the wake of the 2016 Orlando massacre, HRC’s Board of Directors adopted a resolution that addresses both the epidemic of hate that has fueled anti-LGBTQ-motivated murder, assault, and discrimination, as well as common-sense gun violence prevention policies that would help keep the LGBTQ community safe.

The resolution established HRC’s organizational position that the safety of LGBTQ people in the United States requires the adoption of common-sense gun violence prevention measures, including limiting access to assault-style rifles, expanding background checks, and limiting the ability for suspected terrorists — and those with a history of violence against women — to access guns.

At 2:33 p.m. EDT, newsrooms and workplaces around the country honored a moment of silence for the lives taken last week in Maryland.

May we honor their legacies by ending this nightmare of gun violence.