As much as many of us have grown tragically accustomed to mass shooting events, too many folks in the Region also have become calloused to news of shootings and homicides in Gary.

But what's happening in Gary is no less a threat to our community fabric than the threat of mass shootings.

All too often, gunfire on city streets claims innocent victims, often when they weren't the intended targets.

Ignoring or not giving appropriate attention to a problem, just because "that's just what always happens in Gary," is not a tenable response.

As leaders in the highest levels of government discuss mass shootings as the clear and present danger that they are in society, our local leaders should be treating Gary's shooting and homicide rate as an equal threat.

If they don't, we must demand it of them.

And we, as citizens, cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the carnage.