Unfortunately, the Las Vegas shooting is not the first shooting that has come to my attention these past years, nor is it likely to be the last. How the news decides to cover the shooting typically comes in forms that I am pretty familiar with by now.

1. Gun Control Issue

The battle is never-ending. I GET IT. You have the view that the outdated 1791 amendment that declares the right to bear arms refers to your modern day weaponry as well. Taking away your guns takes away your "constitutional right" or the ability to protect yourself. Seventeen guns were found in the hotel room of the gunman. Are you seriously stating that you need SEVENTEEN GUNS to protect yourself or that it is your right to have that amount of weaponry? Let it go already. There are lives at stake here.

2. Mental Health Care Issue

I just knew that this would be turned into a question of mental health yet again. Someone (without any education on what mental illness actually is) is going to start with "he is obviously mentally ill", state that more funding should go into mental health, then forget about it until the next similar attack.

"The real issue is sick, deranged individuals who want to hurt people or 
want to commit suicide or want to get their names in the history books 
as the biggest monsters in history." 
<span class="redactor-invisible-space">
</span>-dagnyhammond of "Gun Control Won't Prevent Events Like The Las Vegas Shooting" Odyssey article
        
    

It shocks me how being suicidal is put side by side with mass murderers and criminals, all labeled "sick, deranged individuals". If you want to advocate for more mental health testing [as opposed to gun restriction], do it right... but don't attack mental illness symptoms such as suicidal ideation and make that on the same level as the person responsible for the Las Vegas Shooting...

3. Terrorism

You'll notice that the labels change based on the skin color of the shooter. If it's a white shooter, they are labeled "lone wolf". If it's a person with darker skin or any possible ties to the Muslim faith, the automatic assumption is "terrorist". Links to ISIS or other terrorist groups become the norm of the headlines.

4. Fixation on the shooter

Please don't glorify yet another shooter. I don't need to see televised interviews from anyone who has ever known him. I don't need to see his picture everywhere. I don't need headlines such as "Deadliest Mass Shooting in US History" as if it's some kind of morbid competition to be the top monster in history. Don't give him the attention that he knew he would get. Instead, if you want, put energy into how you can help the victims of this shooting, from donating to blood banks to advocating for better gun control.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

Shootings are addressed in the same way again and again and again... It takes over the headlines for a few days with a push for better mental health screening or gun control, then it is forgotten until the next incident. If you want results, you have to change your approach. We cannot do the same thing each time and expect for these kinds of attacks to not happen. If you want change, you have to create that change, not just expect it to become different on its own, then be surprised when yet another shooting becomes the headline that starts your day.