Mark your calendars. June 27 may have been the day U.S. policy on gun control has finally started to change.

This past Monday, the Supreme Court heard Voisine v United States, an appeals trial of two men charged with domestic abuse who were later discovered owning guns, which is prohibited under current legislation. These men fought for an appeal, saying that guns should only be outlawed for those who committed an "intentional" act of domestic violence, rather than a "reckless" act of domestic violence, the difference being similar to that between a premeditated crime and a crime of passion. But on Monday, in a 6-2 ruling, the Supreme Court voted to continue to prevent gun ownership for those charged with any kind of domestic abuse. This upholds the Lautenberg Amendment which was written in 1996.

So technically, no laws even changed. But by upholding a law that prohibits a specific group of people from owning guns, the rhetoric surrounding these laws has changed. Despite the dramatic and painful increase in mass shootings in our country over the last decade, that hasn't happened in a long time. And here's why.

1. The NRA blocks any research done on the potential prevention of gun violence, and they have been for years.

I know, it sounds like a conspiracy theory, but lo and behold, it's true. Following a 1993 study suggesting that having a gun in the home increases the risk of homicide, Congressman Jay Dickey proposed an amendment (the Dickey Amendment) that would prevent the Center for Disease Control (CDC) from conducting any research to advocate for gun control. In reality, this has always been the case. The CDC is not allowed to advocate for any specific legislation since it is supposed to be an impartial department. However, when this amendment passed, the $2.6 million allocated for gun violence research was transferred to traumatic brain injury research, leaving the gun violence budget reduced by 96 percent.

Interestingly, Jay Dickey himself has since renounced the amendment, saying, "I wish we had started the proper research and kept it going all this time." However, it continues to block research because the 'voting' process on whether or not to keep the amendment goes as follows:

Leader of Session: All in favor of repealing the Dickey Amendment say aye.
Smattering of Disinterested Politicians: Aye.
Leader of Session: All opposed say no.
Smattering of Other Disinterested Politicians: No.
Leader of Session: Looks like the no's have it.

I sh*t you not, that is actually how our government is currently deciding whether or not we would benefit from research on gun violence. Video evidence is available in this informative and hilarious clip from "Last Week Tonight" with John Oliver.

So why is this so important? Because the most effective argument opposing gun control regulations is that there is no research proving that such laws will have a positive effect. Well, now we know why. Not because there's no proof, but because there's no actual research.

2. Politicians avoid the real issue of gun control with racist and ableist commentary.

Have you noticed how, after these mass shootings, politicians develop a sudden passion for better mental health policy or concern about increased terrorism, and how which one they turn to is entirely dependent on the color of the perpetrator's skin? Yeah, so have I. And it's preventing us from discussing the real issue at hand: gun violence. I have said it before and I will say it again, people with mental illnesses are less likely to commit a violent crime than the general population. When politicians start lobbying for better mental health care after a tragedy like Sandy Hook, they are obscuring the real issue while contributing to the already painful stigma of mental illness.

It's the same thing with terrorism. Maybe you've heard the saying "not all Muslims are terrorists, but most acts of terrorism are committed by Muslims?" The truth is, the statistics just don't support this. According to a report from the FBI, 96 percent of acts of terrorism from 1985 to 2005 were committed by non-Muslims. And of the 207 mass shootings that had taken place by July of 2015, only one was committed by a known Muslim.

Don't let the politicians and media distract from the real issue. This country is built on disagreement through discourse, but we need to focus on the subject at hand if we want to have informed debate. We need to talk about the inevitability of crime, the fundamental rights of US citizens, and how guns have changed since the Second Amendment was written. This quick video shows what a drastic difference historical context makes.

3. Politics are so toxic and chaotic now, many people are avoiding the issue altogether.

As millennials, we are known for giving a sh*t. According to a 2014 Council of Economic Advisors report from the White House, we are "more likely than previous generations to state that making a contribution to society is very important to [us] and that [we] want to be leaders in [our] communities." Well, here's a huge opportunity to do that. It is easy to feel overwhelmed in the face of the political circus in our country and in the world. Especially recently, it seems like things have been just...falling apart. That can be disheartening and discouraging. But as Stephen Colbert said after the tragedy in Orlando, love is a verb. It's time to do something, to be those leaders in our communities that we say we want to be.

If you vote in Athens County, you can contact our House representatives Steve Stivers here and Bill Johnson here, and our Senators Sherrod Brown (D) and Rob Portman (R) here. And here is where you can go if none of those channels are working. Don't vote in Athens? Then contact your own congressman by entering your zip code on this website. You can call, email, even write them some snail mail, whatever you can convince yourself to do. All you have to do is express your opinion on gun control regulation and ask that they do their best to represent your opinion as their constituent. And then do it again. And again. Kinda like your first girlfriend in elementary school. Just keep bugging them.