To the editor,

Another pile of shot-up bodies. Another round of performative “thoughts and prayers.” Another season of stonewalling by Congress. Another lethally disauected young man destroying his own future and the future of others.

We’ve been here before, and before, and before. Aren't we finally nauseated by the repetition? Can we do something about it this time?

Ultimately the power lies in our hands. It’s time to hold our elected ovcials accountable for their abject failure to enact common sense gun protection measures.

We should all be able to agree that teenagers are too emotionally volatile and impul- sive for unrestricted access to firearms.

We should all be able to agree that the Second Amendment does not confer the absolute right to own high-power weapons of war designed to kill as many as possible in the shortest possible time.

We need every candidate on the ballot this fall to declare himself or herself on this issue. And those — they are unfortunately many — more loyal to the NRA than to our children and communities need to be voted out decisively. If they’re too cowardly and venal to protect those they claim to represent, we need to get tough with them. If we fail to do this, we are pathetic complicitors in the needless cycle of slaughter and “thoughts and prayers.”

Thomas R. Smith

River Falls