Gun control. Along with abortion, is one of the most controversial topics in the modern political climate and is a major dividing line between the two parties.

It is also one of the most misunderstood publicly debated issues, and in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, it is more vital than ever that everyday citizens – and our lawmakers – understand the truth of the gun control debate so that action can finally be taken.

So let’s talk about the truth.

60 percent of Americans currently believe the laws covering the sale of firearms should be more strict than they are now.

51 percent of Americans believe that we should pass new gun laws as well as more strictly enforce the ones we currently have.

70 percent support requiring all privately-owned guns to be registered with the police.

74 percent support enacting a 30-day wait period before buying a gun.

96 percent support requiring background checks for all gun purchases.

68 percent favor a ban on assault-style weapons.

64 percent favor banning high-capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

If you ask me, that’s a lot of consensus for an issue that is supposedly tearing our nation apart.

The truth is no matter what side of the issue you are on, we meet in the middle a lot more than you would expect. Like most things in life, the gun-control debate is not black or white. There is a lot of gray area on the topic, and that gray area is home to a frequently misunderstood term: common-sense gun laws.

Common-sense gun laws are not a well-disguised attempt to take away your guns or eliminate the second amendment. Instead, common-sense gun laws aim to tighten up existing gun-control laws and create new ones in the hopes of preventing more mass shootings from occurring.

They are laws that protect the constitutional right of citizens to bear arms, as well as the lives of innocent citizens from being taken in a mass shooting.

Examples of measures that would be taken under common-sense gun laws include eliminating public access to bump stocks and high-capacity magazines, implementing a national permit-to-purchase policy and closing closing up existing loopholes in our gun laws.

These measures are not infringing on the rights of anyone. If you are a law-abiding citizen who can pass a background check, then by all means, go out and buy guns. But there is no need for everyday citizens to have access to 60 and 100 round magazines, or for anyone to be able to purchase a gun without a background check.

And besides these types of measures being common sense, as we learned earlier, they are supported by a majority of Americans.

I am 18 years old, and four of the five worst mass shootings in modern history have occurred in my lifetime. I don’t want to see another one. Our Constitution may guarantee the right of all citizens to bear arms, but there is a line that needs to be drawn when it comes to gun control, and that line is right at common sense.

We can, and need to, find a middle ground between gun rights and gun control, or else we will continue to be stuck in the cycle of mass shootings.