The debate is back with another bang. This time, though, it is a little late. In the wake of Tucson’s horrific mass shooting two months ago, our country focused on the language of political discourse. A fascinating topic, to be sure. But a semantic argument wasn’t really what happened in that Safeway parking lot. If Jarrod Laughner had shot words at Gabby Giffords, it might have made for an amusing skit on The Daily Show.

Bullets, on the other hand, make people pay attention.

The gun debate only surfaces when something very public and very tragic hits the news. School shootings fall into this category. Attempted assassination also qualifies. However, the debate seems to ignore the fact that thousands of people die in the United States every year due to guns.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in gun-related violence since the Tucson shooting alone. Other examples include a school administrator in Nebraska who was recently killed by a student – yet another abuse of gun “ownership.”

All of this is nothing new. There are people who feel very passionately about this topic on both sides of the debate. The second amendment and its interpretation make things even messier. I don’t think the founders ever considered the world may one day have guns that carry more bullets than there are members of the House of Representatives.

The real debate should be about who gets to have a gun and who does not. We can debate Laughner’s motivation for pulling the trigger, but the real issue is that he had a trigger to pull.

President Obama laid out a reasonable argument in the Arizona Daily Star in which he suggests that gun-owners and gun-control advocates can find some common ground. In his article, President Obama stated, “I believe that if common sense prevails, we can get beyond wedge issues and stale political debates to find a sensible, intelligent way to make the United States of America a safer, stronger place.”

By acknowledging that not everyone who owns a gun is crazy, and that certain crazy people should not have guns, maybe a worthwhile conversation could start.

Going to school or to a political rally should not be akin to entering a war zone. Guns have their place, but something has to be done. By doing nothing, politicians make another Columbine, Virginia Tech or Tucson not only inevitable, but ingrained in our culture. Instead of acting we shrug our shoulders and move on faster than a speeding bullet. Bang.