We must be resolute

Last week, the country saw the latest in a horrifyingly frequent series of mass shootings. By now, you have likely read many articles, heard an army of commentators and seen countless social media postings sounding off on the violence that took 49 lives and injured dozens of others at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida on June 12.

Reasonable voices have long been tinged with dread and fatigue. Looking at the ways other countries have ended mass shootings — through sensible restrictions on weapons — it is frustrating to see common-sense efforts to stem gun violence thwarted time and again in the United States. On Monday, Republicans in the U.S. Senate disgraced themselves yet again by blocking incremental steps to reign in the out-of-control guns trade.

Still, we cannot let the forces of recklessness and, indeed, hatred, wear us down. We must keep calling for change.

Local leaders had the right idea at vigils at Riverdale Monument and the Bronx County Courthouse last week. They decried the hatred that targeted the LGBTQ community in Orlando and demanded laws that will keep powerful weapons out of the hands of people like the perpetrator of the massacre.

Many eloquent voices spoke that evening. One of the most poignant came from an ordinary Bronxite, a woman who lost a cousin at the Pulse nightclub.

Understandably, Audrey Dejesus was nearly overcome with emotion as she addressed dozens of people on the steps of the county courthouse. But speaking with a reporter afterwards, she voiced a defiant stance.

“My heart is filled with pride right now because New York itself is showing... that we are not tolerating gun violence anymore,” Ms. Dejesus said. “These assault rifles have to come off the streets. We have to keep on calling these politicians and telling them, no more.”

Ms. Dejesus provides an admirable example — finding the courage to stand by her convictions even amid agonizing personal tragedy. We would do well to remember her example as the national debate over gun control rages on.