Will Hurd: I’m a Republican who represented Uvalde in Congress. I want more than thoughts and prayers.

(Mr. Hurd, a Republican, represented Uvalde, Texas, in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2014 to 2021.) Last month, a fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde, Texas, a small, quiet community that I represented in Congress, became a war zone. Nineteen beautiful, innocent children and two dedicated, brave teachers are gone forever because of a vicious massacre. It’s infuriating. It’s heartbreaking. It was preventable. Since 2009, 1,565 Americans have been killed in mass shootings. That’s more than the number of U.S. military personnel killed in hostile action in Afghanistan over the same period. The names of Tulsa, Uvalde and Buffalo are added to those of El Paso, Sutherland Springs and Sandy Hook. More parents are going to have to suffer the unbearable burden of burying their own child. Yet, neither horrifying headlines nor stunning statistics have generated substantial legislative action. This inaction has caused the public, the media, and some of those same elected officials to believe that nothing can be done. But that simply isn’t true. There is not one piece of legislation that can prevent all mass shootings, but there are many things that we can do to save lives.

I believe in the plain language of the Second Amendment. In Congress I had an A rating with the National Rifle Association, and they supported my re-election campaigns. But while in Congress, I also met and learned from organizations like Everytown and Moms Demand Action, and was one of just eight Republicans to vote in favor of H.R. 8 — a bill requiring universal background checks. I also believe it’s ridiculous that any attempt to reform laws to keep lethal firearms out of irresponsible hands is met with outrage and stonewalling. Removing access to guns won’t stop this epidemic, but as the tragedy in Uvalde proved, neither would a myopic and unyielding obsession with putting more guns into our schools. Any effective solution for mass shootings will require a multifaceted approach. Researchers at the nonpartisan nonprofit The Violence Project have studied every mass shooting event in the United States since 1966. They have interviewed countless people connected to these events, to include many of the shooters. They found the same patterns time and time again in mass shooters: childhood trauma; a crisis point that pushes them over the edge; imitation of prior mass shooters and a scapegoat to blame; and the opportunity to carry out the attack. At every level of society, we must take actions to address each one of these steps in the metamorphosis of a mass murderer. We must build stronger social safety nets in our communities and create accessible, high-quality mental health facilities throughout our country.