America is broken. This has been a tough week for our strong country. We’ve seen terror in Boston, heartbreak in Texas and abandonment in Washington. An iconic event was horrifically disrupted on Monday; dozens of people were displaced and lost everything on Wednesday night; and the Senate left the country without any hope regarding gun violence earlier in the day.

90 percent of Americans want universal federal background checks for all gun sales in the United States. 90 percent of Democrats voted for the Manchin-Toomey bipartisan compromise in the Senate. 90 percent of the Republicans, however, voted against it. President Obama said it best during his address: Wednesday was “a shameful day for Washington.”

Universal background checks on all gun sales would have been a major step in preventing some of the 30,000 gun deaths every year. A huge step towards a safer United States is confirming through a universal background check that those who buy guns can be trusted not to misuse them. The Senate has shown us through its vote that it doesn’t care about what its people want and that the National Rifle Association and other special interests can continue to write the laws in our democratic country.

I’m outraged, but not ready to stop fighting. America needs to feel safe right now. We’re strong, but the heartbreak needs to end. We can’t allow another Newtown, another Aurora, another Chardon or another Tucson.

America is broken. Now is the time to stand together. Now is the time to call the senators who left us without hope by voting no on Wednesday. Now is the time to become one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

We will not back down because of terrorism, mass death or neglect. We will be resilient. We will not be scared to live our lives in freedom. We will change this.

— Jake Green, junior public relations major, Kent State College Democrats president