Kimberly Morris — KJ to her friends — had recently moved to Orlando from Hawaii to care for her mother and grandmother. She had been working at Pulse Nightclub for about a month and was about to start a job as an assistant basketball coach at a local school. Two weeks ago, KJ and the lives of 48 others were cut tragically short when a madman entered the club armed with a military-grade weapon.

KJ’s grandmother Emma Johnson said, “Knowing her, she would be trying to help everybody get out instead of running for her life. That’s the type of person she is.”

The 49 victims in Orlando join a grim list of thousands whose lives were stolen away because of gun violence.

One hundred and fifty mass shootings have occurred in the United States this year alone — nearly one a day.

And the victims of mass shootings make up only a percentage of the 6,400 Americans who have been killed and over 13,000 injured by a gun in 2016. This includes over 1,500 children who have been killed or injured.

Each victim leaves behind loves ones who must find a way to piece their lives back together.

When will we finally say enough is enough?

I thought it would be after 26 first-graders and teachers were gunned down in a classroom in Newtown, Conn. I was wrong.

I thought it would be after parishioners were killed at their church in Charleston. I was wrong.

And, surely, I thought, it would be after Orlando, the worst mass shooting in American history. Again, I was wrong.

The NRA (National Rifle Association) says more guns will keep Americans safe in their homes. But the fact is, there are too many guns in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.

Numbers matter, and our country stands alone among developed countries with its high rates of gun violence. Americans make up approximately 5 percent of the world’s population yet own nearly half of the world’s privately held guns. And a Harvard University study found that with more guns, comes more homicides. Period.

Americans don’t feel safe. Not in their churches. Not in their schools. Not going out with friends on a Saturday night.

If we continue on this track, we are complicit in creating an America where we live in fear of each other, where little children in schools have drills on how to hide from a shooter.

That’s not the America I want.

And that’s why we need to enact common-sense laws to curb gun violence in America.

The NRA would have you believe that these proposals take away Second Amendment rights. If it was honest about it, it knows that reasonable parameters to gun ownership are Constitutional.

It’s not a question of taking away rights. It’s about preventing wrongs.

An endless cycle of gun violence should not be the new norm.

Here at home, Hawaii lawmakers have enacted common-sense gun safety laws to protect our community. Hawaii consistently has one of the lowest gun death rates in the nation. In 2014 it was 2.82 per 100,000 people, nearly four times lower than the national average of 10.54 per 100,000.

And that’s not an accident. It’s because the people of Hawaii have made a decision to implement strong gun safety laws. A decision that prioritizes public safety over the NRA’s rhetoric.

Over the past five years, more than 100 measures have been introduced in Congress to curb gun violence.

None of them have passed.

Legislation I voted for would close loopholes that allow Americans who shouldn’t own a gun to obtain one, including banning military-style assault weapons that can fire a bullet per second.

I’m not seeking to change the NRA’s mind. Apparently nothing, not the mass killings, not the thousands of people killed or injured by guns in our country, will change the NRA’s mind. But the NRA represents a minority view on appropriate gun legislation. The rest of us in Congress need to stand with the American people and loosen the NRA’s grip so that we do the right thing to prevent the carnage due to gun violence in our community.

We often observe moments of silence after tragedies like Orlando.

If we observed a one-minute moment of silence for each victim of gun violence so far in 2016, we would be standing silent for four days, 10 hours and 45 minutes. And the clock continues to tick as more gun deaths occur every day.

It’s past time for silence, for thoughts, for prayers.

Enough is enough. It’s time for action.