The nation is still grieving the senseless slaughter at an Orlando nightclub that left 49 dead and even more wounded.

But grief is not enough. The social media postings, the memorials, the reading of names on television. It's just not enough.

Whether it's Connecticut schoolchildren massacred in their classrooms alongside their teachers, moviegoers in Colorado, county workers at a holiday party in California or churchgoers in South Carolina, what follows these tragedies is as predictable as it is maddening: Any attempt at sensible gun control measures is quickly overwhelmed by threadbare arguments about the sanctity of the Second Amendment, the injustice of any restrictions and the futility of whatever measure is under discussion. Emotions die down, grief dissipates and what follows is … nothing.

It's time for average Americans to recognize the power they hold and to take responsibility for what does or doesn't happen after such incidents. The majority in this country favors some common-sense gun control measures. People are sickened by the rising death tolls and terrified that they or their loved ones will become the next statistics. They have seen that more and more guns with fewer and fewer restrictions is not the answer. The NRA has fed this country a myth, that if only enough citizens were armed, they would somehow turn into a nation of highly trained gunslingers who could pick off the bad guys with Clint-Eastwood-like precision and save the day. Enough. America's Wild West days are behind it.

Instead, let's demand three steps from Congress that will test whether our politicians are willing to do anything meaningful at all, besides hand-wringing and finger-pointing.

First: Ban those on the government's Terrorist Watchlist from purchasing firearms. This would include individuals who also appear on the no-fly list, which prevents them from boarding commercial flights in the U.S. Incredibly, the government can deem someone too dangerous to get on a plane, but cannot stop that individual from buying a gun, so powerful has the gun lobby been. The lists themselves should be made more transparent, with an avenue for appeal. But those who find themselves on it should not have legal access to firearms.

Second: Require background checks for purchases of firearms online or at gun shows. States that have done so have seen significant declines in gun violence. Would it stop every mass shooting? No. No single measure would. But we must start somewhere.

Third: End the ill-considered ban on gun violence research. The nation's largest medical organization, the American Medical Association, has joined the fight, voting in the wake of Orlando to call gun violence a public health issue and call for federal research. That means lifting the ban that for 20 years has stopped the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from funding research on gun violence — an absurd attempt to enforce a willful ignorance of what is unfolding all around us. Gun lobbyists know that facts are the most powerful foundation for reform and have blocked researchers long enough from finding out what this country needs to know about how best to curb gun violence.

If Congress is unwilling to take such modest steps — steps that would not affect the vast majority of law-abiding gun owners in this country — then let us at least dispense with the hypocritical moments of silence and public proclamations of "thoughts and prayers" by politicians who are empowered to do more, but choose not to.

In joining the nearly 15-hour filibuster led by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., that brought at least a promise of a vote on gun reforms, Minnesota Sen. Al Franken said, "We have failed to answer repeated calls to address gun violence in this country. We have failed to take steps necessary to make our communities safer, and as a result we are complicit in creating the circumstances that give rise to these events. We can't pretend that this part isn't on us."

That responsibility is not limited to senators. It's shared by every life-loving person in this country who has failed to take some action, to apply some pressure, to let their elected leaders know this will not stand.

It's on all of us.