I want to write about the Las Vegas shooting, but I have no words.

As I write this, it has been nearly a week since it happened. But it still doesn't feel real yet. Maybe it never will.

Orlando doesn't feel real. Sandy Hook doesn't feel real.

Each year the anniversary of these two shootings will come up, and I'll inevitably see some post on social media and that is what will remind me.

Maybe it's because I'm so far removed, that these things slip too easily from my mind. The longest I've ever spent in Orlando was two hours, just long enough to get off the plane and get hyped for spring break. I've never had any strong desire to visit Las Vegas.

I've never known anyone who was the victim of a mass shooting. I've never lost a significant other, a sibling, a child, to such a senseless act of violence.

So I guess you could say I'm lucky to be able to forget. I'm lucky to be able to sit here and write about how the mass shootings are so awful I can hardly believe they're real. Because there are too many people (even more now) for whom the pain caused by these mass shootings is all too tangible. It is with them every day and some Facebook post about praying for the victims doesn't make it any better. Their sadness is not reserved for the date of the anniversary, like mine is.

But I am sad. Sad that my country breeds violence. Sad that my country also willingly puts the weapons to carry out that violence into its citizens' hands. Sad that so many cling so strongly to such an outdated amendment. Sad that it's gotten to the point that I don't even know what to do.

I wish I could say this article was going to be some rallying cry about how to join together to stop the ceaseless killing. But I think we all already know how to do that. It is by showing respect and kindness to everyone you meet. It is by never playing the role of the bully. It is by not keeping automatic weapons in your home and by teaching your children that everyone is a human being deserving of love and respect.

And yet still sometimes these things are not enough. Then we must turn to our government, and hope this time is the time they finally decide to act. How many more innocent people need to lose their lives before the United States finally realizes that allowing average citizens access to automatic weapons is a mistake?

The mass shooting that took place in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, October 1st, was the largest mass shooting to date. That's not a record we ever want to break.

This writer's heart goes out to all the victims of the Las Vegas shooting, and to all their families and to all the families of the 58 who lost their lives. I know nothing I could ever say or write would make your suffering less, but I am deeply sorry for your loss.