As most, if not all, of you have heard, there was a shooting this morning in Las Vegas. A 60-year-old white male tore through a crowd of over 22,000 individuals with gunfire - which he had unloaded from a 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay Casino.
As of now, there are 58 casualties and 500+ injuries - but this isn’t being considered an act of terrorism. Why? Had this been a foreigner or even just a person of color, there would be no question as to the act of terrorism that occurred this morning.
The man, whose name is not worth mentioning, was found with not just one rifle, not two but ten semi-automatic rifles. Ten weapons were found in one man’s hotel room. Ten objects with life ending abilities were sold to a man who very clearly had mental health issues.
At what risk are we willing to finally crack down on gun rights and an individual’s easy ability to purchase one. The life of your friend, your child, of you?
Additionally, the fact that this horrific tragedy is not being classified as a terrorist attack is disappointing.
Regardless of the fact that it was an American killing other Americans, it was still killing - and a lot of it. Domestic terrorism is still terrorism, the attacker does not need to be of a different background to be called a terrorist.
So please, start calling it as it is. By disregarding the need to regard this event as a terrorist attack, we are normalizing these horrible, horrible tragedies. We are insinuating that this is what happens in the United States - this is our normal; and by not harping down on gun control, we are allowing it and accepting it to remain our normal.
No individual deserves to have their life wrongfully taken from them, just as no individual deserves to live in fear of losing theirs.
Last night, a terrorist opened fire on a crowd of individuals attending a Jason Aldean concert. This domestic act of terrorism is the largest mass shooting to date in the United States. It resulted in the deaths of many innocent victims, and the injuries of so many more.
This is not the America I am proud of, this is not the America I strive to live by - is it the one for you?
