I was going to publish a version of this piece a few days ago. Then, when it was almost ready to go, I heard about the shooting at an elementary school in California and it felt wrong to point to any kind of good news on this issue after the senseless deaths of even more people to gun violence. Given that there have been more than 300 mass shootings this year, it occurred to me that there might never be a “right” time.

And yet two things can be true at once: 1. This country has a horrific problem with gun violence, one it has not taken the proper steps to address. 2. There are reasons to be hopeful, even in the face of tragedy after tragedy.

After a recent mass shooting in America took the lives of 26 people in a church in rural Texas, I will admit that I felt numb. Was this the new normal? That seemed implied by cable news; the national stations didn’t even bother with the same level of 24/7 blanket satellite coverage in Sutherland Springs as it did a few weeks prior when 58 people were killed at a mass shooting in Las Vegas. Did the murder of 26 people not really register as a significant blip on a national consciousness constantly barraged by mass shootings?

Feeling depressed, and mad at myself for even considering resigning to this reality, I called Shannon Watts. Shannon is the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and I interviewed her for my new podcast, “State of Resistance.” I thought Shannon would agree with me, would express anger and frustration at the lack of strong grassroots action for gun control, and the growing apathy about gun violence in Congress and the media. Instead, Shannon gave me hope. It’s true that Congress isn’t acting — and must act — but as Shannon explained, “Congress is where the work ends; it’s not where it begins.” And in the five years and more than 1,500 mass shootings since Sandy Hook, “big things have changed,” Shannon said. “That’s the most important message that I need everyone to take away.”

Yes, the situation still seems bleak. Yes, I alternate between fury and despair. But Shannon urged me to look at the progress that has been made too.

1. Blocking permitless carry bills.

Permitless carry, also known as constitutional carry, laws allow people to carry loaded, concealed firearms without a specific carrying license or permit. As of October 2017, 12 states already had such laws. But this year, Moms Demand Actions’s network of 4 million supporters and 60,000 active volunteers has, as Shannon puts it, “killed 20 out of 22 permitless carry bills” proposed in state legislatures. Now, thanks to supporters of basic, commonsense reforms, people in those 20 states still have to get permits if they want to carry loaded, concealed weapons.

2. Blocking guns on campus.

While 16 states ban carrying concealed weapons on college campuses, 10 states explicitly allow students and faculty to carry loaded, concealed weapons on campus — and many other states have laws in the gray area in between, for instance leaving the decision up to individual schools, or applying only to public colleges and universities. In 2016 alone, 16 states introduced campus carry bills, but 15 were defeated because of grassroots activism. After all studies show that having more loaded guns around doesn’t prevent gun violence but rather increases it. Because of thousands and thousands of people showing up in state legislatures and protesting, kids in those 15 states are now safer on their campuses.

3. Disarming domestic abusers.

Like many perpetrators of mass gun violence, the shooter in Sutherland Springs had a history of domestic violence. But in many states, that doesn’t bar access to deadly weapons. Gun reform organizations around the country have worked to pass laws in 27 states that require abusers to surrender guns and ammunition if they're subject to a protective order — and a law passed just last month in Rhode Island, championed by a female state legislator and signed by the state’s female governor, will require anyone convicted of domestic abuse to relinquish their firearms. This sort of simple, common sense law had been hitting gun lobby roadblocks before but is now being passed thanks to the growing grassroots movement backing basic reform.

4. Closing background check loopholes.

Supposedly everyone who wants to buy a firearm must first pass a background check — the sort of check that would catch, for instance, if a potential buyer was once convicted of domestic violence. But dealers not licensed by the federal government — for instance, some of the dealers who sell firearms at gun shows — are basically exempt from having to put potential buyers through the background check system. This is known as the “background check loophole” or “gun show loophole.” But states can act to close the loophole and advocates for basic gun safety in 19 states and the District of Columbia have helped pass laws that do so.

5. Making companies accountable.

Even in states where the laws still favor the reckless interests of the gun lobby over the safety and security of communities, consumers who care about safe communities have worked with dozens of large corporations like Target, Whole Foods, Ikea, Buffalo Wild Wings, and AMC Theaters to establish policies that ban employees and customers from carrying concealed firearms on their premises. And when Ohio passed a law last December authorizing concealed carry not only on college campuses but in day care facilities, Shannon told me, Moms Demand Action organized more than 1,500 day cares around the state to proactively opt out of the law and post signs disallowing firearms. It’s stunning they have to do that, but good that they did.

In June 2015, British journalist Dan Hodges opined on Twitter, “In retrospect Sandy Hook marked the end of the US gun control debate. Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over.” I read that tweet to Shannon Watts during our conversation and she scoffed about how much she hates that tweet. She then explained to me why the truth may be the exact opposite — that Sandy Hook marked the real beginning of a long-overdue robust grassroots movement for common sense gun control in America, one that doesn’t happen overnight but is indeed happening, and growing, and challenging and defeating the gun lobby agenda in ways that were previously unimaginable. It’s understandable to feel helpless in the face of so many shootings and so little action at the federal level. And yet the work of Moms Demand and other local and state activists across the country can give us hope. There is change happening, if we know where to look.

Sally Kohn is the author of the upcoming book The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity. Follow her on Twitter.