When the two bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, their effects were felt, to one degree or another, by people across the globe. The victims and those close to them have suffered the most, but their grief is shared by people around the world.

Now, there’s hardly anyone in the U.S. that can turn on the news, or tie their shoes for their morning run, or say a prayer without thinking of the attacks in Boston. The criminals who perpetrated these attacks have branded scenes of horror onto our collective memory.

These experiences, these images, these stories spur us to action. It’s an instinctual response. First, fear; fear drove tired runners to keep running, away from the blasts, away from the horror. Fear kept millions of others indoors and brought one of our nation’s proudest cities to a standstill. But in spite of fear, there was also a compulsion to do something, to seek justice, to aid the suffering. Exhausted runners continued running out of a desire to help those in need. Law enforcement officers died in the pursuit of justice.

And now, around the country, the specter of the Boston attacks is driving politicians and concerned citizens to push for change. Policies on immigration, gun control, surveillance, legal rights, trial procedures and more are being reanalyzed through the lens of Boston.

In the rush of emotions following the occurrence of the unthinkable, it’s difficult to stop. It’s difficult to think. We want justice; we want change.

These things will come. Yet we must not allow them to result from hasty decisions and rash policy changes. Changes to the laws and policies that govern this country should not be just another ripple rolling forth from the site of the bombings.

As tragic and horrific as the Boston attacks were, they were a single occurrence. Our immigration policies and our gun regulations should not be decided on the basis of extreme, but rare instances of violence. Rather, they should be determined after careful analysis and debate in light of everyday issues.

It’s hard to think about statistics when all you can see are explosions. This is the way the human mind works. People tend to fear flying on planes much more than driving cars, though statistics show that driving is, in fact, a riskier endeavor than flying. It’s the big, terrible, spectacular catastrophes that burn themselves into our minds. In reality, it’s the small, mundane things that make the biggest difference.

When we talk about immigration, we should think about the effects on the economy. When we talk about gun regulation, we should think about the shootings that occur every day around the country.

At the same time, we should carefully consider whether there’s anything we can do to stop Boston from happening again. Many of the policies being discussed today wouldn’t have stopped the bombings; politicians know this. They’re using this disaster to forward their own agendas. Citizens should be aware of this, so that they can make informed decisions about those agendas. And if we determine that Boston was the result of systemic problems, we should address those problems with all the wisdom we possess.

We cannot forget the events in Boston and Watertown, nor should we. But as a nation, we must do our best to make our policy decisions in light of, but not necessarily in response to those terrible attacks. This is the United States of America, and no one can decide the fate of this country but us.