Orlando

In the early hours of Sunday morning, Omar Mateen opened fire and killed 50 in an LGBT club called "Pulse" in Orlando, and injured another 53. He used an AR-15 and killed people on a whole new level- the worst mass-killing we've seen in this country. It was horrific, and meant to scare people. In that sense, my guess is that it worked.

There's so much to unpack here. This is just the latest act of terror on the LGBTQ community, and happening in a club, during PRIDE month, has added meaning for them. There is his use of a military-style gun, and the controversy over whether or not he should have been able to buy it. There is his self-radicalization, and his pledge of allegiance to ISIS. There is the fact that the FBI was watching him, and he still pulled this off. There is the insane debate over Donald Trump's proposed "Muslim ban." This is not a simple shooting.

For the LGBTQ community, this is simply a reminder that not all hearts and minds have yet been opened to them. There remains bigotry in our world. At a time of year when LGBTQ people are happy and coming together, they are reminded about the dangers of our world. This should make America collectively sad. This was the definition of a "hate crime." This is why we have that legislation.

Should you be able to buy an AR-15? Some people would say yes. Some would say no. For me, it is obvious and clear that some people should not be able to buy a gun like this. If you can't fly on an airplane, you shouldn't be able to buy a gun. If you're under FBI surveillance, you shouldn't be able to buy a gun. Now, to be fair, it is not clear that this would have stopped Omar Mateen. The conversation about gun policy is not limited to any one case and incident though. 90 people are killed in America by guns every day. We'll never get that to zero, every day. I'm not sure we can accept 90 though.

Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS. He did so here in America. This is the new reality of ISIS- you don't have to do much more than say that you are ISIS, and then act on it. Lone wolves, not organized groups of hijackers, are the new reality. That is a terrifying change. It also means that we need leaders who are thinkers, and come up with new ways to fight this group. "Bombing them into the stone age" in Syria won't work. "Fighting them there, so we don't fight them here" won't work. Travel bans and racist policies to target Muslims, won't work. In fact, that kind of rhetoric created ISIS. They feed off of it. Self-radicalization is the new enemy. Inflammatory rhetoric makes it more possible.

The FBI did have their eyes on this man. Should he have been stopped earlier? You might say yes, in hindsight, but what crime had he committed? That is the terrifying problem here- we are a nation of laws, we should not abandon that out of fear. We should have some fear of this though.

Finally, there is the backlash, and people like Donald Trump calling for policies that will further help ISIS recruit. To be clear, a "travel ban" won't stop attacks like this as long as self-radicalized "lone wolves" are a real threat. In fact, his "Muslim ban" will create more of them. Trump is so ignorant to the problem that he faces, and so dead-set on being a "tough guy" with his ignorant rhetoric, that it would create a much worse problem at home for us. We need to work with Muslim-Americans, not demonize them, if we're going to defeat these guys.

All in all, the best way to summarize the Orlando night-club shooting is sadness. It's a sad event. It's an event that shakes one's faith in humanity. How someone can decide that killing 50 people is the right thing for them to do is beyond my comprehension. Unfortunately, the combination of issues above insures this won't be the last of it's kind.