In 2013, our comfort zone was shattered by the Pinewood Village massacre that left five people, including the murderer, dead – and it happened in Federal Way, Washington, not some faraway place with a distance that suggests safety.

In the wake of Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, and a movie complex in Aurora, Colorado, we asked, “How could this happen here?” The murderer’s story was one of contacts from police, verbal and domestic abuse against women, and possession of guns. Our local officials told us he had a legal right to own and carry a gun because he hadn’t done anything to warrant losing that right.

He used that right to murder four people.

We said then we can’t ever have this happen in our community again, that something has to change. In 2013 we elected a new mayor, Jim Ferrell, who got in the race because of Pinewood. Ferrell then appointed the police chief, Brian Wilson, as his chief of staff.

But here we are again. It is 2016 and we still have murders on the front page. Three in 48 hours here in Federal Way, and we share the news and our grief with the families of the 49 dead at a gay night club in Orlando, Florida.

In 2013, community discussions suggested supporting laws in our state legislature to reduce violence against women, obtaining more state funding for mental heath issues and granting latitude to intervene with those who might turn to violence. Did our legislators, or mayor or city council members lead the fight on those concerns? There were questions about the manner in which police investigations are handled. Were changes made to the process of investigations? Or is everything the same?

Is the problem mental illness or reporting suspicious behavior? Maybe it’s about money? It may be some of those things. But the real constant in this sad tale isn’t location, religion, social status or even hate. It’s simpler than that – it’s about guns and the ease with which they can be obtained by people who shouldn’t have them.

The United States has 5 percent of the world’s population, yet we have 31 percent of its mass shootings. Was it just Orlando’s turn, or ours again? In 1996, Australia passed strict gun laws after 35 people were killed and 23 were injured in mass shootings. They’ve had none since. That’s 20 years ago. And the legal changes made to stop the killings were not made by “liberals,” but by a conservative government!

We don’t know if three different people committed the murders here or if one person committed all three. But we have repeated the same process in 2016 that we vowed not to repeat in 2013. After each tragedy, we pray, ask questions, demand action and expect our elected leaders to pass laws to stem the tide. Then we go back to our lives until it’s time to pray again and hope the murders on TV news are someplace else.

Unless real substantive changes are made, we will continue with the same sad and unnecessary process.

This year we have all the major national and statewide offices up for election, plus half of our state Senate and all of our state and national House of Representatives. Next year we have our mayor and three council positions up for election. The mayor and council have spent their time building a Performing Arts and Events Center and running the homeless out of town. In the last city legislative agenda they encouraged limiting the public’s right to get information under public disclosure laws.

If those are the types of laws they want to spend time on then surely there’s room for real leadership on guns.

When our forefathers included the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights, the best available weapon was a musket. Muskets aren’t used much nowadays. Shouldn’t our laws reflect the devastating effect modern weapons can have on an unsuspecting group of people in a school, church, restaurant, club or apartment complex? Do our leaders have the courage to take on the National Rifle Association? This year and next, ask candidates running for office, “Do the lives of your citizens count for more than the NRA?”

Earlier this week the United States Senate voted down four proposals that would have tightened gun control laws. This year and next, ask the candidates, “Will you work to pass meaningful gun control measures?” Will the city include adding rigid gun control laws to their state legislative request? Will candidates support tougher laws on who can carry a gun, obtain more funding for mental heath workers, and hire resource officers for public schools? Will candidates support tougher laws on domestic abuse?

The dictionary defines courage as “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” Will those running for office show real courage, or will they continue to worry more about upsetting the NRA and side with gun advocates like they usually do?

Who do our elected officials and would-be-candidates care more about? Will they make a change, or will we continue to just pray when more lives are cut short? Without change it will happen again, and again and again.

Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is the former mayor of Auburn. He can be reached at bjroegner@comcast.net.