In the first twenty-three days of January, according to data collected by Gun Violence Archive, thirty-nine mass shootings have occurred in the United States, claiming seventy lives and injuring one hundred and sixty-seven people. 

Thirty-nine shootings in twenty-three days!

Mass shootings can happen anywhere and at any time. In an instant, your life can end due to the madness of a person with access to an assault weapon. Bullets don't discriminate, and they affect everyone equally, regardless of one's race, age, or gender. 

Meanwhile, Congress continues to fail to act on enacting meaningful gun control legislation that includes a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity gun magazines. 

It's madness.

While Congress continues to fail to take action on gun reform, on the state level, since the horrific mass shooting in Sandy Hook in 2012, Connecticut has taken a proactive approach to meaningful gun legislation. 

After the tragedy in Newtown, the state has enacted several key gun reform measures, such as the expansion of the assault weapons ban, the expansion of the state's "Red Flag Law" by allowing families and doctors to "red flag" individuals with firearms who they believe are an immediate threat to themselves or others, and the passage of "Ethan's Law," which closed a loophole in the state law regarding gun storage. 

Most recently, Governor Ned Lamont introduced his plan to address gun violence for the current legislative session. His plan includes:

• A ban on the open carrying of firearms.
• Preventing bulk purchases of weapons.
• Prohibiting untraceable ghost guns. 

The Governor's proposal makes sense; hopefully, the General Assembly will approve it before the end of the current session.

As a country, we must do whatever we can to break the cycle of gun violence that has gripped the nation due to inaction from Congress. The federal government would be wise to examine the State of Connecticut's approach to common sense gun control. 

As a society, doing nothing to combat gun violence while the number of victims of mass shootings continues to skyrocket should be unacceptable.