In the span of 24 hours last weekend, our nation bore witness to yet another round of senseless bloodshed.

Families in El Paso, Texas, found rest hard to come by Saturday night after a lone gunman opened fire on a Walmart store teeming with back-to-school shoppers — many of whom legally crossed the U.S. border from neighboring towns in Mexico. The tragedy left 20 dead and 26 injured.

Our nation just started wrapping its head around the tragedy — something it seems to find itself being asked to do more and more often these days — when shots rang out again overnight outside a Dayton, Ohio, nightclub.

Nine dead and 27 injured, including the shooter’s sister following an attack lasting less than 30 seconds.

In El Paso, the lone gunman published a “screed” just minutes before his shooting rampage rocked the world. His hate-filled manifesto meant to not only explain his actions, but also glorify them.

In Dayton, authorities discovered a disturbing history of hit lists and mass shooting fascination dating back to high school, yet struggle to identify a motive.

And these two are far from alone.

More and more “lone wolves” are taking to the Internet and social media to spew fear and loathing while they continue dividing our nation.

And they’re unfortunately finding wider audiences as we line up to take sides instead of finding ways to work together.

It doesn’t matter if you’re on the left or the right, pro-gun or anti-gun, what matters is mass shootings are sadly becoming the norm for this nation, instead of the exception.

Fueled by the rapidly growing interconnectedness brought on by our own insatiable desire for social media’s immediacy, these mass murderers feel emboldened, empowered and even entitled to kill.

This is the same world, mind you, we prepare to pass on to our children and grandchildren.

Remember when tragedies like Columbine and 9/11 shocked and consumed our collective conscience?

In the wake of these assaults on our American way of life, we stopped long enough to take stock of the world around us. We gathered, mourned and moved forward as communities.

With each mass shooting, we become more and more desensitized to the senselessness of it all. And that is the far bigger issue facing America right now — not debates over the Second Amendment, background checks or gun violence.

It’s the growing number of disturbed individuals whose moral compass is skewed to the point of non-existence and the social media frenzy fueling their hate by offering them a captive, worldwide audience for their distressing rhetoric.

Whatever happened to the time when we were horrified and alarmed and sought answers in the wake of these tragedies?

Remember those times when it didn’t matter your political affiliation?

Long before the internet and social media shrunk the worldwide stage, the United States was a beacon of hope for millions arriving at her shores. Some came in search of opportunity, others to visit our great and diverse nation. Still more came seeking inspiration from our best examples of democracy to help their homelands.

Who would have thought that now, in 2019, other countries would issue travel warnings about coming to America due to the rise of mass shootings? Who would have thought a motorcycle backfiring in Times Square would spark panic and fear?

We are becoming a nation of alarming statistics.

Instead of allowing ourselves to be desensitized to this violence, angered by the rhetoric and ready to point fingers, we all should reach out our hands. Be it across town or across the political divide, we need to remember our roots and recall the reasons why our ancestors first arrived at Ellis Island.

Surely, they never envisioned an America where mass shootings would be the norm instead of the exception.

— ALH