What a terrible tragedy again in Colorado--with this latest massacre occurring just 13 miles from the one in Columbine back in 1999.

My first reaction was disbelief: not again, not another mass shooting.

And then revulsion: reading the stories, watching the videos. How can someone do something so senseless, so cruel?

And my heart goes out, as I’m sure yours does, to the families of the victims.

And I can’t help wondering: What is this country coming to when you can’t go out and see a Batman movie without fearing for your life?

Yes, I know, mass shootings sometimes happen in other countries, like Norway, where the crazy rightwinger, Anders Behring Breivik, gunned down all those kids at that summer camp.

But that was astonishingly unusual for Norway.

Sadly, this shooting in Colorado, as horrific as it was, is just one in a series for America, I’m sorry to say.

Maybe it’s because we have a culture saturated in violence.

Maybe it’s because we have a foreign policy predicated on war.

And maybe it’s because guns are a bumper crop in America: They’re abundant and easily accessible, courtesy of the National Rifle Association and the legislators who are essentially on its payroll.

But whatever the reason, we better get to the bottom of it.

None of us wants to wake up to this morning’s carnage ever again.

If you liked this story by Matthew Rothschild, the editor of The Progressive magazine, check out his story “Obama Strikes Populist Chord on Taxes."

Follow Matthew Rothschild @mattrothschild on Twitter