WARNING - personal rant of possible triggering proportions to follow.

This past Sunday night, over 55 people lost their lives in a mass shooting in Las Vegas. It is already considered the largest mass shooting in US history with the club shooting in Florida the next largest with 49 deaths. It seems the occurrence of mass murders is on the rise, or at least with the help of web based media the knowledge of incidents is wider-spread in a faster amount of time. Before the last few years, I associated these types of regretful violence being strictly associated to political or religious terror attacks. But, since the instance of the Aurora movie theater shooting it seems that any event, anywhere, at any time is a potential target. Movie theaters, dance clubs, concerts, any large social gathering is now a potential ground zero for an attack. Whether it's bombings, shootings, or riots, the violence seems to be increasing in numbers and in motivations.

The world we live in is being overcome by unnecessary hate. Hate towards lifestyles outside one's own or one's own understanding of it. Differences in religion, political views, sexual preference, music taste, mental capacities, social and financial station, but sometimes violence doesn't even need a reason to be used against other people. The Sandy Elementary shooting was an instance of a mentally and emotionally unstable man who lashed out on innocent children and teachers for no plausible reason, other than being unstable. The same case could be made for the Aurora movie theater shooting, and possibly for the Las Vegas shooting this past weekend. No matter the "reason" for the incident, there has been so many lives lost in the last few years that it is heartbreaking. I fear raising my two children in this world, and having any sort of hope for them turning out to be decent people. I can only do so much to shield them from the world around them, but at some point I know my influence could potentially be rendered mute in favor of their peers at school or the media voice -- which is everywhere!

Hearing about the massive loss of life in Las Vegas, and with several of them off-duty and on-duty police officers, is tragic and eye-opening... at least for me it is. So many innocent people, who have families, friends, careers, and dreams that no longer have the chance to experience life. And why? Because someone, and I don't care their color, age, gender, or whatever else someone wants to classify the murderer, had a thought or desire to do harm to other human beings with no regard for the harm being done. I haven't heard the motive yet, and honestly it DOES NOT matter! Nothing will excuse the act of murder, not in the Las Vegas situation or in any of the other mass murderers that has happened in this world. There is no plausible reason for any of the blood-shed, and there never will be a "reason" for it.