With gun violence trending upward, have you ever thought to yourself that you’re too cautious sometimes? You’re surely not alone as there are many people who probably feel that way more often than not in today’s society. Even stranger is the fact that sometimes we even ask yourself if we are being too optimistic or worried about what may happen sitting in class or in a movie theater. Some would say it’s quite a shock how different society is today than it was even as little as 20 years ago, but constant reminders of the tragedies of gun violence and the failures in the American mental health system plague our everyday life. They’re all but glorified on 24-hour news networks, and it seems as if every week, someone else is bringing a gun to a public place, taking the lives of innocent people, and turning the gun on themselves. There has still been nothing done to proactively take steps to decrease this issue which has become the center of American conversation.

The reality is that America is a much scarier place now than it has ever been. That’s not to say that people don’t do things because they are scared, but it is much more obvious now than ever before that our country is not as safe as we always believed it to be. As a result, the American people have grown more cautious of what is going on in their surroundings. A movie theater is no longer a safe haven to enjoy a movie but now a place to be optimistic of your safety. It’s dark, and people are always moving around. All natural things that if they happened at a movie theater ten years ago, people wouldn’t think much of it.

But in today’s society, if you move around or get up too much in a movie theater, people find you to be suspicious, and rightly so. This whole optimistic mentality is the result of a society where guns and murder have become an everyday part of life. And we as Americans have paid the ultimate price of fearing for our safety instead of living life freely as we once did before.

The natural reaction to a shooting today is to hope it doesn’t happen to you and send condolences to the victims and their families. Like President Barack Obama said in early October, our condolences are no longer enough. We as Americans have turned the other cheek to violence and made excuses for the tragedies that constantly occur. The famous quote, “people kill people, guns don’t kill people” is constantly repeated by politicians and gun activists but soon enough, Americans will take control of the situation and put the necessary people in place to work towards a different, safer country. Sadly enough, there will be another person shot dead, and another family grieving the loss of a loved one, before change comes. Americans have become immune to violence, but optimistic of our safety because you just never know when it may be you in that life or death situation.