How many mass shootings must we endure?
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- This week, we suffered the worst mass shooting in U.S. history -- but another tragedy may be what happens next week.
Malcolm Graham has seen this vicious cycle up close. "We will mourn. We will celebrate the lives lost. And then it's back to business as usual."
A year ago, his sister Cynthia Hurd and eight others were shot to death at the Emmanuel AME church in Charleston. Malcolm thought for sure that mass killing would be the final straw, that our leaders would try something -- anything -- to stop this plague.
"I just can't figure out what's going to have to happen for honest men and women to meet in the middle to do what's in the best interest of all of our citizens."
What worries him most is that our country is now so far down this road of mourn, move-on, repeat, that someday soon we'll just accept these shootings as status quo.
"All these things tend to blend together and my job, my hope, is that we don't forget."
But remembering them all -- just all the recent shootings -- is a tall order, even for those who care the most.
"Do you remember Roseburg, Oregon?" I asked Malcolm.
"No."
"Herkimer County, New York?"
"I don't," Malcom said.
"Eventually, I'm going to say to somebody, 'Charleston.' And they're going to say, 'I don't remember it.'"
"Yeah," Malcolm agreed through tears.
Every time there's a shooting, we have these moments of silence, but they've taken on a hollow ring. We have candlelight vigils, but then abandon our outrage before the wax hits the ground.
Malcolm wonders -- how many of these pictures do we have to see? Will there ever be a death toll large enough, a victim innocent enough, to make us finally bring this parade to an end?
If there's hope, it's that every time a shooter takes another life, he adds to the army of friends and family who will not be quieted.
"You tell the story wherever you can and whoever is willing to listen. You just tell the story," Malcolm said.
Because sometimes we need to be reminded of what we promised to never forget.