What does it take to tighten gun laws in Virginia? How many people have to die before the Virginia General Assembly takes action to curb the violence in our communities?

The tragic shooting death of 9-year-old Markiya Dickson at a cookout on Memorial Day Weekend at Richmond’s Carter Jones Park upset people throughout the metro area. That was followed by the horrific massacre of 12 people last Friday at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, which rocked communities across the state and nation.

People are doing their best to come to terms with these senseless acts of violence. Yet, year after year and tragedy after tragedy, the same questions are raised by people seeking laws to stop the needless proliferation of weapons and the desire to return a sense of safety to our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces and houses of worship.

But because of the deep pockets and insidious influence of the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers, Virginians are still waiting for change. Even the most rudimentary efforts to strengthen Virginia’s gun laws are stonewalled in the General Assembly or killed by conservative Republican forces that seem more wedded to the rights of gun ownership than to the need to protect human life. We are left to ponder who is the more wicked — those who pull the trigger or those who have the power to help stop the atrocities but don’t?

We believe Gov. Ralph S. Northam is right when he says, “We must do more than give our thoughts and prayers. We must give Virginians the action they deserve.”

We endorse Gov. Northam’s call for a special session of the General Assembly to specifically address gun control. We are tired of the GOP thwarting basic efforts that we believe will help protect our communities. Those include universal background checks for gun purchases; banning assault weapons and bump stocks, such as the type used in the Las Vegas massacre in October 2017; banning silencers and high-capacity magazines, such as those used by the Virginia Beach shooter; and taking guns out of the hands of those deemed a risk to the public because of mental illness or past violence.

In a special session, Republicans won’t be able to hide in committees and subcommittees as they torture logic and oppose common sense gun control legislation. The voters of Virginia need to see just who is for gun safety and who remains inert after these gun tragedies.

We find GOP arguments to be ludicrous as the party whips up conservative blowback against holding a special legislative session and strengthening Virginia’s gun laws.

House Speaker Kirk Cox, a Republican from Colonial Heights, bristled at the governor’s call, noting a special session is unlikely to produce any substantive change. Instead, he said the GOP would introduce its own measures aimed at tougher penalties for those who use guns to commit crimes, including mandatory minimum sentences, which Gov. Northam opposes.

Additionally, the Republican Party of Virginia issued a statement accusing the governor of trying to politically capitalize on the Virginia Beach tragedy and deflect public attention from his blackface scandal.

Until he leaves office, Gov. Northam will have to bear the scrutiny of Virginians questioning his motives in light of his past. But while he remains in office, we believe he is taking needed critical steps to move Virginia forward, particularly when it comes to gun violence.

The vigils and memorials for Markiya Dickson and the victims in Virginia Beach cannot bring back the dead. But they can help change the hearts and minds of the unmoved and hopefully spur the legislature to action.

It has been 12 years since the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in which a gunman killed 33. More than 1,000 Virginians perished from gun violence in 2017. Virginia communities logged 391 homicides in 2018, with 18 of them occurring in Virginia Beach. Richmond has had 25 homicides so far this year, including many by gun violence. The slaughter on college campuses, at municipal centers, schools and movie theaters and on the streets and playgrounds of our communities should not become our new normal.

On Monday, nearly 100 people stood outside the Williamsburg office of Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment holding signs demanding tougher gun laws. Sen. Norment, a Republican, has helped the GOP sandbag gun control efforts led by Democrats.

Many in the crowd were women and members of Moms Demand Action, a group seeking “gun sense in America.” Jeanette Richardson, who saw her son die in the street in Newport News about 15 years ago, was with the protesters, many of whom also have lost loved ones to gun violence.

“I’m asking for (Sen. Norment) to hear the voices of these people who are locked into a perpetual scream for the rest of their life,” she told The Virginia Gazette. “When you lose someone to this type of random violence, there’s never going to be peace of mind.”

She said while she knows Sen. Norment has never listened before, “I just want him to hear and feel — this is a life sentence for this community.”

It’s long past time for our state lawmakers to take action.