On Saturday, June 11, U.S. citizen Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS before entering a gay club and opening fire – with an assault rifle – on the hundreds in attendance. As of writing time, 50 men have been pronounced dead and 53 are in critical condition. The shooter is dead as well.

The following is our Editor in Chief’s opinion on the incident, along with the several other gun-related incidents in recent history.

I woke up this morning with a heavy heart, discovering that a combined 103 Americans were wounded, 50 of those wounds proving fatal, after an armed shooter entered an Orlando gay nightclub and released fire on those in attendance.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation soon after confirmed this was an act of terror, for the shooter, who was an American citizen of Afghan descent, had pledged allegiance to ISIL/ISIS while on the phone with a 911 operator prior to the shooting.

This comes mere hours following the death of American singer-songwriter Christina Grimmie, who was victim of a murder-suicide when an unknown man shot the YouTube sensation and runner up of The Voice following a concert.

The shooters were both men. The shooters both struck when no one expected. The shooters both claimed the lives of innocent people who didn’t know any better. A more common similarity, however, is that the shooters are both shooters.

It’s petrifying that we live in a world where gun violence is becoming more and more normal, as if it were part of a daily schedule – maybe even more frequently, considering last night’s mass shooting in Orlando marked the 7th shooting in a 6 day window.

Despite women, children, racial minorities, members of the LGBTQ, and even cis, white, privileged males falling victim to gun violence on a regular basis, many people still accept or even make light of the situation, and do not want a change in the system.

It’s hard to say if guns will ever be completely outlawed. Guns serve as protection, and, for those who use it with that purpose, have the potential to be seen as a weapon of self defense instead of a weapon of destruction.

However, I do believe the process for which one gets a gun needs to be closely looked at and greatly altered. This includes an intensive background check and a waiting period of multiple days, amongst other things. This way, less guns will be purchased and those that are acquired are given to safer people.

The eradication of gun violence in the United States will likely not happen in any of our lifetimes; but there are people that have the ability to make a huge leap forward in the protection of our lives, and they’re choosing to not do anything about it – to me, that’s the worst part about the war on guns.

My heart, along with all others at the PHHS Trailblazer, goes out to the friends and loved ones of those affected in these recent shootings, and all members of the LGBTQ community.