By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

They almost don’t register anymore. In fact, while the press usually mentions their occurrence, many times, there is no follow-up story unless the mass shooting features some titillating detail of interest in addition to the violence. I remember the days when every mass shooting was not only reported, but the press offered continued news coverage and politicians and others noted their outrage over the shootings. Now politicians barely notice or comment on them, and most of us just shrug our shoulders and go on with our daily lives – that is unless we know someone who was injured or died.
I thought about this after reading a newspaper article that noted, as of April 17, the Gun Violence Archive had counted the 81st mass shooting in the United States in 2025. According to the Mass Shooting Tracker, by April 28, there have been 105 mass shootings in the United States in 2025 while 6,637 mass shootings having occurred since January 1, 2013. The Mass Shooting Tracker defines a mass shooting “as a single outburst of violence in which four or more people are shot.” (The site does note that it includes shootings even if no one dies. The FBI, on the other hand, “defines an ‘active shooter’ as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.” I’m not sure if they include those shootings where no one dies.)
What has happened that we now are immune to these brutal actions? I remember when any mass shooting was shocking. Talk of gun control and mental health education would fill the airwaves and newspapers. Now, no one seems to bother. It’s assumed that no gun control will ever pass Congress. With mental health education and services being cut by the current administration, I expect we’ll see even more shootings. We’ve come to expect this to happen and most of us see no hope of ever stopping to stop it. We just go on with our day and pray our family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc. won’t be caught up in the violence.
When I was a child and obsessing about some problem, my father, who had been in the Marines in World War II, used to remind me of my blessings by saying, “No one is shooting at you.” While I realize in some parts of our country that has never been true, it was the truth for most of the American middle and upper class whose neighborhoods were considered safe. Our schools were safe. Our religious institutions were generally safe (except for the attacks on churches and synagogues during the Civil Rights Movement). Now they are not: doors are locked and police are requested when large events are held.
I have no answer for how to solve this problem, but we have many bright, intelligent people who could and should be working on it. Or are they, too, so used to American violence that all they can do is shrug and say it’s not their problem? But it is. It is their problem. It is your problem. It is our problem and it is my problem. Maybe it’s time we let our elected representatives know that it is also their problem and, if they don’t do something about it, they might soon be looking for new employment.