Thirty five years ago today Mark Chapman fired five shots into the body of John Lennon and robbed the world of one of its most creative geniuses. He would be the first to say that his life was no more valuable than another. And since that fateful day on December 8 1980, a staggering 1.15 million people have died in America as a result of gun crime.

Another staggering statistic is that since 1968, which was the year the Beatles white album was released, more Americans have died as a result of gun violence than in every war that the country has taken place in throughout history. And this trend looks like it’s accelerating, only last week 14 people died in a mass shooting in California.

Public opinion is slowly starting to shift toward more gun legislation but there is still very little appetite for change within the republican party. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted a powerful message that went viral in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting.

But only last week presidential candidates Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz voted against a proposal that would increase background checks and stop terror suspects acquiring guns.

Unsurprisingly those candidates have all received huge donations from gun rights groups who are effectively funding their run for the oval office.

Presidential hopeful Lindsey Graham

This is in stark contrast to the democrats who are doing their best to change the system. Hilary Clinton made a speech in Florida last week that included some draw dropping statistics “Ninety Americans a day die from gun violence, homicide, suicides, tragic avoidable accidents — 33,000 Americans a year die,”

“It is time for us to say we are going to have comprehensive background checks, we are gonna close the gun show loopholes.” she said.

Earlier in the year after the Umpqua Community College massacre in Oregon, Obama gave an emotional speech where he said “we, collectively, are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones because of our inaction.”

If John Lennon were alive today I think he would certainly agree with that statement. How many more people have to die before the political landscape shifts?