It’s been about three weeks since 17 children and adults were killed in Parkland, Florida by a child with an AR-15. Three weeks since 17 families were forever changed by a tragedy that sparked a fury of thoughts and prayers from all corners of the world.
It’s been almost five months since a gunman opened fired into a crowd in Las Vegas, at a concert of all places, killing almost 60 people. Five months since an event that is supposed to be a celebration of music, a safe place for people to express themselves through lyrics and melodies, became an event of fear and mourning.
Those are just examples of some of the more well known recent mass shootings. But there are many that don’t get quite as much news coverage.
Benton, Kentucky, two killed and 14 injured, about a month ago.
Melcroft, Pennsylvania, five killed at the end of January.
Nashville, Tennessee, three killed and two injured on January 12.
Sadly, the list does not stop there.
The first thing I do each morning after waking up is check a slew of different apps and websites to see what’s happened in the time I’ve been asleep. I’m a news junkie — I like to know what’s going on, and I live for live updates of breaking news situations. But recently, it seems that the only thing I see is news of shooting after shooting. Another gun-related death. Another school riddled with bullet holes.
It’s become so common that I’ve started to dread checking Twitter or CNN in fear of seeing the faces of more victims.
Mass shootings have become such a trend that we are rarely surprised by them anymore. We feel immense amounts of sadness, anger, broken-heartedness, and a multiplicity of other emotions upon seeing the news stories, but we are not surprised. I am not shocked by the news of gun violence anymore, which is appalling to even myself.
I often sit for several minutes after hearing news like this and ask myself what is so wrong with me that I’m not surprised when 14 children and 3 adults are gunned down in their own school. After what seems like an eternity of self-reflection, I’ve begun to realize that no matter how strongly we feel toward these tragedies, we are not surprised because we as a nation have become so desensitized to violence, especially in the cases of mass shootings.
It seems as though every week we wake up to a new catastrophe, a new headline, “___ are killed in a shooting.” It has gotten to the point that the killing of innocent people by firearms has become almost normalized, almost expected.
When was the last time you were surprised to turn on the news and hear about a mass shooting? Was it Columbine? Sandy Hook? San Bernardino? Orlando? We have been trained, unknowingly, by the media to just accept that this is our new reality. One where no venue is safe from gun violence. One where everyone is quick to offer their thoughts and prayers, but no one wants to implement change.
We are disappointed, we are sympathetic, but we are not surprised.
Somewhere along the way, we have become numb to gun violence. Gun control has become one of the touchiest political subjects, and the thought of creating legislation to regulate guns is laughable to most. Gun control is seen as a far off dream that is unattainable. We are expected to feel mournful, to offer our condolences, and then forget and move on until the next mass shooting occurs and the cycle restarts.
It is not OK that 17 families’ lives were ripped apart at the hands of a person who had unbelievably easy access to a firearm. The victims were children. Friends. Classmates. Sons. Daughters. Sisters. Brothers. Teachers.
Their families wake up every day with the tragedy fresh in their minds, wounds reopened every time they realize they’ll never see their loved one again. They can’t forget. And neither should we.
We need change. We need lawmakers who take gun violence seriously. And we need it before the next “Deadliest Mass Shooting In History” headline appears.
