The massacres at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University rocked the world of higher education. It seemed like reform was imminent – after all, how could we not take action at a national level to prevent future tragedies? Unfortunately, we know how those reform efforts turned out. It has been more than five years since the shooting at Virginia Tech, but the higher education community – and more broadly, the nation as a whole – has yet to experience any sort of closure on the issue.

The recent failure of Congress to pass even moderate gun control legislation in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. shooting exemplifies the complete lack of forward motion on the issue of gun violence. In particular, the decision of Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., to vote against gun reform legislation is disappointing for a state still recovering from its own mass shooting in Oak Creek this summer.

Last week, the U.S. Senate voted down measures that would have expanded background checks for gun purchasers and banned certain types of assault weapons. This board had hoped that the Senate, including our very own Ron Johnson, could come to an agreement on these sensible reforms – really, does anyone believe that expanding background checks for gun purchasers is too much to ask for? Although it is overly optimistic to call a proposal “common sense” in this day and age, it seems fitting here.

This shameful failure to pass any gun reform legislation also highlights the disproportionate influence of the National Rife Association, which threw its entire weight against the Senate bills. According to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., one of the bill’s cosponsors, the bill would have received 70 votes had the NRA not decided to consider the vote when tabulating its legislator report cards.

While interest groups play an important role in policymaking, it is totally unfit for a single organization to hold so much influence on the governing process – especially when it comes to issues of public safety.

Since the shooting at Virginia Tech, universities have developed code red plans to deal with campus shootings. Although this is a necessary response, it does not constitute a solution to the larger problem of gun violence. While schools certainly play an important role in student safety – as they should – the entire responsibility of keeping students safe should not fall on universities.

Universities can only do so much to counteract the fact that people who shouldn’t be able to own guns are able to easily and legally purchase them. The reality of the situation is that if someone has a gun, especially a high-capacity assault weapon, and wants to kill people on a college campus, there is almost nothing anyone can do to stop them before they kill a large number of people.

The most realistic way to stop these tragedies from happening is to enact controls that keep guns out of the hands of those who are unfit to carry them. It is not an infallible strategy, but it is certainly better than the status quo – which is to say, nothing.

While tragedies on college campuses have raised serious questions about student safety, little has changed to make students feel more secure while sitting in class. It is disappointing that common sense measures, like expanded background checks, failed to muster enough votes to pass. While Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., deserves credit for voting for the new legislation, we find it frustrating that the other half of Wisconsin’s senatorial delegation did not act in the interest of student safety.