America has a long-standing history of being the nation of the free, the ambitious and the culturally diverse, but let us not forget it's less favorable worldwide reputation of being a gunman's paradise. It is hard to find any developed country that rivals that of the USA when it comes to gun violence-related statistics. In the first 8 months of 2019 alone, America has been a victim to 255 incidents of mass shootings, claiming a horrifying 277 lives and changing those of thousands more who were injured during or survived these tragedies. There is so much pain and suffering that with each attack has become increasingly commonplace, in fact, with each attack that comes and goes, the normality of America being a shooter's playground only greatens.

Having lived outside the US for a considerable portion of my childhood, gun crime was certainly not a normality of my life growing up; I had never lived in a nation where carrying concealed firearms was legal, consequently, gun crime was not a typical worry of mine. The Constitutional right and the law is not something I necessarily have an opinion on, like everything, it comes with positives and negatives, but what I do find shocking within the US is the level of ordinariness that surrounds shootings. It has seemingly become a fact of life that people are prepared for, something I myself experienced during my freshman year.

The striking disparities in the reactions of myself and my peers in the occurrence of an active shooter alert is something that I doubt I will ever forget. As I began to panic, hyperventilate and hurriedly seek security in the cramped wardrobe of my dorm room, my friends present watched on in amusement, before informing me such a reaction wasn't necessary in the slightest and that rather, we should get our homework, some snacks and wait it out under the bed. To me, my response was a perfectly rationalized acknowledgment to hearing that a shooter had fatefully turned a gun on someone less than a mile down the street, an appropriate reaction to being informed that he could make his way onto campus. A normal reaction to an un-normal circumstance.

The reaction of my peers was not even half as fear-struck or panic-inducing as mine, but they were also far from calm. Their undeniable anguish was evident in their wavering voices during hushed phone calls home-keeping family in the loop. Their concern was heard in the whispered calls to friends yet unaccounted for, to check in on their safety. My peers remained far more composed (at least outwardly) than I could conceivably manage, so much so that the way in which they handled the situation left me aghast. To me, this was an un-normal reaction to an un-normal situation. To them it was a typical reaction to the circumstance, after all, gun crime has become a ubiquitous fact of living in modern-day America.

Their reactions were not as severe because they have been raised in a climate of gun violence, they have been raised practicing shooter drills in school and reminded to always be aware in public. Preparedness in these scenes is indeed imperative; it is an absolute benefit that ensures safety and minimized casualties if and when the worst comes to happen and an active shooter alert is put into effect. Perhaps it is this same preparedness that gives off the sense of regularity, or what I would coin normalcy in a situation that, in my opinion, should be anything but expected or normal.

Gun violence is not okay. It is not just a fact of life that needs to be accepted. The USA is one of the most powerful countries in the world, it has excellent standards of living, educational opportunities, vast expanses of beautiful nature and a driving economy. With all these things, mass shootings are not what America should be remembered for. It is time for action and change to make these situations something far from common. Mass shootings are not the norm, so let's stop normalizing gun violence as an expected part of life.