On Saturday afternoon, a young man attempted to assassinate the former president of the United States at a political rally.

And while Donald Trump survived this violent attack, volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore was killed and two others were critically injured.

Both President Joe Biden and former President Trump have rightly called on Americans to come together in a rare moment of unity. They’re right to do so.

We are also seeing Americans across this country call for lowering the temperature. We can disagree. We can disagree passionately. But I believe we can all agree that those disagreements should never result in political violence.

In this moment, we must not only come together in rhetoric. We must come together in action.

The weapon used in the attempted assassination was an AR-15-style rifle. To see such a weapon used in this way, to target the former president at a campaign rally, is a grim reminder that nobody in this country is immune from the devastatingly violent impact that these assault weapons cause.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that no place is safe from these weapons of war. Not schools. Not churches. Not grocery stores. Not concerts. And not political rallies.

Many are calling upon our leaders to lower the temperature. I echo those calls. And I believe that one of the most profound and lasting ways we can actually lower the temperature in this country is to pass meaningful gun reform and ban these assault weapons that have no business in our communities.

The fact is that an overwhelming majority of Americans support such a ban. As a country, we have witnessed tragedy after tragedy involving an assault-style weapon. We cannot let that overexposure lead us to numbness, or worse — inaction.

If our singular national response to an attempted assassination on the former president this past weekend is a plea to calm down, we will have collectively failed to meet this moment. It is incumbent on our leaders to match their words with deeds.

That’s why I am urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Mike Johnson to work together to craft and pass a bipartisan assault weapons ban.

I hope that former President Trump will join me in that call. Nobody deserves to go through what he went through this last weekend. No student. No churchgoer. No grocery store shopper. No concert attendee. And no Democrat or Republican supporting their candidate of choice at a rally.

Angela Alsobrooks (info @angelaalsobrooks.com) is the executive of Prince George’s County and the Democratic nominee for Maryland’s U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Ben Cardin.