As I have begun to look more closely into the social systems at work in this country, I’ve been dumbfounded by a disturbing paradigm.

Almost from the moment we are born and surely by the time we can communicate, we are fed this message of freedom. To be American means your birthright comes with a guarantee of freedom.

We sing songs about it. We have it printed on our currency. We pride ourselves on freedom.

But in many ways, we are not free.

Children go to school and don’t return home. God-fearing people attend church and take their final breaths as they bleed out on the floor. Hard-working folks, people exactly like you or me, go out to do their weekly shopping and leave the store in a body bag.

Is this freedom?

We are living during a time when the United States is ranked second worldwide, behind only Brazil, in total gun deaths. While statistics range based on source, it is safe to say there is – at least – an average of one mass-shooting per week and possibly as many as one per day. During its September 3 broadcast, NBC Nightly News quoted 289 mass shootings thus far in 2019. September 3 is the 246thday of the calendar year.

289 mass shootings in a “free” country in a matter of 246 days? Let that sink in.

There were 39,773 gun-related deaths in this country in 2017, marking a 40 year high (2017 is the most recent year where complete data is available). Imagine a fully-loaded Boeing 737 crashing every other day with zero survivors. These are the numbers we are dealing with.

A December, 2018 report by CNN Health indicates the United States leads the world in its rate of firearm deaths in youth among countries with available data for the year 2016.

So I ask, if we can’t even protect our innocents, are we free? Where is our power to stop this?

In June, 2016, following the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Time magazine featured a piece on the AR-15, the high-powered semi-automatic rifle used almost exclusively in the most devastating mass shooting events in recent years. In the story, family members of the late Eugene Stoner, who is credited with inventing the AR-15, stated he designed the gun exclusively for military operations and never intended it be used by civilians. “He would have been horrified and sickened as anyone, if not more, by these events,” a family representative was quoted as saying.

A recent Politico poll, August 2019, found nearly 70% of all U.S. voters, regardless of party affiliation, would back an “assault style” weapons ban.

If a clear majority of our “free” citizens want action on common sense gun control, why is there zero movement by our political representatives in this direction?

The answer is simple. We are not free, and the politicians who hold power to do something no longer work for the people. The National Rifle Association has become a domestic terror organization – and ‘we the people’ are pawns in a dangerous game of Russian roulette.

Is this the standard of life we should settle for in the greatest country on Earth? Is this really what it’s like to live in the “land of the free and home of the brave?”

I’m not willing to accept that.

If the only quality of life available to me, requires that I live in fear, every day and in every public place, I am not free.

Yet I refuse to surrender to defeat. Throughout the darkest moments of the last several years, I have seen average, every day citizens who embody hope. I believe in the power of the people to inspire change.

In 2014, the “ice bucket challenge” went viral across traditional and social media platforms – and ultimately raised $115 million in donations to support ALS research.

In December of 2015, the “Compassion Collective” initiative — organized by author activists, Glennon Doyle, Elizabeth Gilbert, Brene Brown, Cheryl Strayed, and Rob Bell — raised an astounding $1 million in 31 hours to support the Syrian refugee crisis. The best part? The maximum allowed donation was $25, prompting good-hearted people the world over to get involved and show up with whatever small amount they could muster.

When Notre Dame cathedral burned in April of this year, donations poured in. It is estimated close to $1 billion was collected in less than two weeks.

So while the NRA may have big guns, crooked politicians and endless propaganda on their side, all those things can’t actually defeat the power of the people – working together – to bring light.

It’s time to bring the light. We need a movement. We need people with more fury than fear. We need a love flash mob in the form of a fundraiser to stymie gun violence in this country and give future generations a fighting chance. It’s the only hope we’ve got.