The record falls again.
We're had twenty children shot at their school, nine people shot in church over the colour of their skin, fourteen people killed at an office party in San Bernardino and now 49 LGBT victims lie dead on the floor of a club in Orlando.
And the record has changed again: 49. It's 49 now.
This is the new normal.
The new level against which we'll set our attention spans. 40 killed by a madman? 36 children dead? At least it wasn't as bad as Orlando.
49 people died at two o'clock in the morning on a Friday. 49 people who went to dance, drink, meet people and hang with friends. 49 people died, terrified and hiding from horror in the bathrooms, the coatroom, behind the bar, breathing heavily, trying to be silent, to hold back sobs and screams. 49 people who texted their loved ones, and begged for help, begged for anyone to save them.
And the inevitable will now happen. The news cycle will spin us all into a tizzy.
The shooter was a Muslim. That'll matter.
The shooter pledged allegiance to Isis. That makes it an act of terrorism.
The victims were in a gay bar, listening to a drag queen perform. That makes it a hate crime.
It doesn't matter. It never matters.
The worst bit is the radio. The people who say 'If only the victims had been armed.' The people who say that gun control 'only takes guns from the good guys.' As if it's a narrative. A story. A fiction where there are bad guys and good guys.
Because arming people who are drinking and bumping into each other in a noisy, dark, crowded bar is always the way to lower gun violence.
A man who hated those different to him bought a military designed assault rifle, and mowed down those he hated. Simple.
We're in LA. It's gay pride weekend. And they just arrested a man with grenades, and two assault rifles, heading to the parade. Was he motivated by this attack? Or did we only catch him because we suddenly needed more protection at gay pride events?
It doesn't matter.
This is the new normal. Once again.
