As of May 18th, 2018, there have been one-hundred and one reported mass shootings in America this year alone. Yes — you read that sentence correctly. In just five short months, this nation has had virtually the same number of mass shootings as days this year. The most heart-wrenching part of it all— its beginning to feel normal.

Roughly over the past two decades, gun violence has skyrocketed into the gun crisis we are currently enduring. Here's a word that will look familiar to you: Columbine. In 1999, the shooting at a Colorado high school that claimed thirteen victims was considered the most dangerous and outrageous school attack in history. The name Columbine, a reminder of true evil, was left ingrained in American minds after countless images and hours of news coverage paused the nation.

Now—things have changed. Time rolls on, history repeats itself, and we are having trouble remembering the events of the last five mass shootings. The headline "Killed in a shooting today" no longer invokes the same sense of panic as it once did. The arguing back and forth on the precipice of the second amendment has slowly turned to a stand-still of hopelessness. We have become desensitized. Even more tragic—our children forsee these horrific events happening to them.

The idea of mass shootings becoming standard to life has weighed heavily on me since the last recorded shooting in Santa Fe. After watching this ABC coverage video, I realized the way we speak about these events has become routine. Using phrases like "it's happened again", "the familiar images", and "the recognizable dispatch audio" are all indications of normalization. Hearing a young girl who just lost ten of her classmates say, "I wasn't surprised, I was just scared" is exemplary of the scarred reality we should not be complacent in.

There is nothing normal about a mass shooting. Our schools, places that once served as a safety net for our children, are turning in to a battleground. We are sending our children off to school for an education, for friendships, for a safe-learning environment—but that is not the case any longer. Children being murdered at school should not be par for the course of freedoms, yet we still sluggishly move towards a solution. The simple fact is, there are things we can do—now. We desperately need stricter regulations on our guns.

Hear me out—I

do not want to take your guns and I am aware that is unconstitutional (you don't have to tell me). However, I do not believe civilians have any bonafide reason to own military grade weapons or assault rifles. These weapons were made for combat, not the public operation. People with a history of mental illness, domestic abuse, or a major criminal record should not be able to own a gun. That being said, mental health could be taken far more seriously in this country. We must crack down on the illegal buying and selling of firearms from the federal and local levels. Most importantly, we have to find a way to do it all together.

If you're tired of hearing about it or it makes you "too sad" to view on the news every time there is an incident, be a part of the movement that finds a solution. There is a pattern. A shooting happens, the gun control debate is renewed for another week (maybe). Then we get tired of talking about it or we stop talking about it to "keep the peace". Another shooting happens and we do it all over again. This is a vicious cycle because it accomplishes absolutely nothing, yet it has become routine. A routine that is costing us thousands of innocent lives.

We will never see an improvement unless something is done. How many more murders before we realize change must be implemented? Whether you are pro-gun or pro-control, I believe we can all agree that foremost, the lives of our people matter. We cannot afford to live in this format any longer. We cannot allow our congressmen, representatives, and lawmakers to push this issue to the side any longer. We should not be fine with living in the gun crisis—it is not a normal state of society and should never be seen as normal.

Remember, our work isn't done until #NeverAgain is more than a hashtag.