Orlando Shooting Is Part Of A Devastating Pattern

Update: In a press conference Monday morning, Orlando police confirmed that 49 people had been killed and 53 injured early Sunday morning at Orlando's Pulse gay nightclub in the deadliest mass shooting in recent U.S. history.

Earlier: Early Sunday morning, a mass shooting at the Orlando, Florida nightclub Pulse left 50 people dead and over 50 hospitalized, and became the most deadly mass shooting in American history. Previously, the worst mass shooting in the U.S. was the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, which left 32 people dead and 17 injured. And this is not to mention the many other mass shootings the country has seen in the time in between, including Sandy Hook in December 2012. Each shooting, no matter the scope, is tragic on its own, but making them all the more devastating is the fact that they still keep happening. Talking about the tragedies and the need for change simply isn't enough, and that's a fact many people are pointing out in light of the Pulse shooting.

On Twitter, many users have commented about this pattern of shooting, sharing thoughts and prayers, asking for change, the conversation fizzling out, and it all happening all over again. It's sad enough that this is a pattern we're living with as a nation, but that feeling is intensified given we're at a point where the pattern itself is being called out immediately after the news.

And I don't blame anyone who's doing it, because we all know how this works at this point. It's a bit brash, yes — news of 50 people being killed did just come out hours earlier — but it's true that this pattern has occurred again and again. It's impossible not to be cynical when every time you've ever said "enough is enough" after a shooting, it turns out that when it comes to getting gun control legislation passed or any real change happening, apparently, enough wasn't enough.

Here are a few examples of Twitter users who have pointed out this awful pattern America has found itself in, and which put things in stark perspective:

More to come...