I woke up Monday morning to a Twitter feed full of mass shooting news. The worst part is, this isn't the first time this has happened.
Aurora, Newtown, Orlando, and now Las Vegas: These are only four of the many mass shootings that have happened in the past five years alone. There are plenty more that have happened before, and at the rate we're going it doesn't look like they're going to stop.
As a country, we're slowly becoming desensitized to this type of tragedy. For a lot of people, these shootings don't happen close to us and we may not personally know anyone directly affected. One day we wake up and find out that more people are dead at the hands of someone with a gun. We've gotten to a point where we are quick to post condolences on social media but not quick to actually try to prevent the problem in the future.
We shouldn't be like this. We should be doing better.
Imagine going to school, or a concert, or basically anywhere public and having to be afraid that at any moment someone could come out with a weapon. When Ohio State had a knife attack last year I remember the fear on campus that stayed through the rest of the day. The next day we all had to carry on with college life, though. Our country tends to do the same.
So where's the solution in all of this? Everyone can come up with stricter gun laws, more thorough background checks, and better security, but when are we going to actually see these plans come to fruition?
While we wait to see what comes of this, go donate blood, support those affected, continue to love those around you, and be good.
Just be better.