After Vegas bloodbath, has terror become way of life?

Not unlike many other days in this nation’s recent history, Americans awoke Monday to emotion-laden scenes of horror and heroism unfolding before their eyes.

Early Monday EDT, a lone 64-year-old gunman opened fire from a 32nd-floor luxury hotel suite onto a crowd of 22,000 innocent attendees of a country-music festival on the edge of the Las Vegas Strip, causing mass casualties.

Once again as well, the senseless loss of life shocked, appalled and numbed the soul of this nation.

But unlike most of the other 521 mass shootings reported across the United States over the past 16 months, this one rose to new heights of depravity and senselessness. At least 59 people died in the assault and more than 520 others suffered injuries. About 50 remained in critical condition as of Tuesday night.

This deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history also distinguished itself in the size of its arsenal. The shooter, identified as retired accountant and high-roller gambler Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nev., holed himself up in a room of the swank Mandalay Bay resort with 23 guns, almost enough to arm a military unit. What’s more, he brought devices that enabled the guns to function as assault rifles and fire dozens of rounds simultaneously.

In the aftermath of this bloodbath, we join the growing chorus of political, social, law-enforcement and religious leaders in condemning the Las Vegas massacre and in offering our condolences to the family members and loved ones of the victims.

We, like so many others, also are left scratching our heads once again in search of answers to what could have motivated the shooter to carry out such a grisly, cold-blooded and diabolical plot.

Contrary to early claims of responsibility from the extremist Islamic State group, U.S. law-enforcement leaders have been unable to trace any direct links between Paddock and the radical terrorist organization.

That, however, does not make the assault any less a case of domestic terrorism. Its death and injury toll in the hundreds brings to mind the scope of carnage in the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995, the most deadly example of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.

In some ways, the lack of a clear motive makes the case even more bewildering. In the days, weeks and months ahead, the FBI and other law-enforcement and justice agencies must spare no energy in trying to uncover underlying reasons for the attack and in identifying any possible co-conspirators to the human butchery.

HEROISM AMID THE HORROR

Yet amid the anguish and carnage rose a few heartening side effects. First, the professional response by the Las Vegas and other regional law-enforcement agencies likely prevented a much higher death toll at the open-air concert venue.

Moreover, examples of resilient and resourceful Americans coming to the rescue of fellow Americans abounded throughout the frightening tragedy.

Take Jonathan Smith, 30, who reportedly saved 30 people before he was shot in the neck. Take the many unidentified concert-goers who instinctively leaped into crisis-management mode, applying makeshift tourniquets, lifting victims over walls and transporting the injured to hospitals.

Or take Mike McGarry, who lay atop younger people as a human shield. Why did he do it? “I’m 53, they’re in their 20s. I lived a decent life so far, I’d rather them live longer than me.”

Such humanity and selflessness amid a veritable war zone speak to the can-do American spirit that endures even amid the most intolerable circumstances. But, unfortunately, few can delude themselves into thinking such heroism will not be tested anew in similar mass shootings in our foreseeable future.

To be sure, the Vegas attack once again will bring to the forefront the national debate over gun rights and firearm controls.

Though we always have staunchly defended Americans’ Second Amendment rights to bear arms, we also recognize that with those rights come responsibilities. Some of those responsibilities fall on the Republican-controlled Congress, which has continued to turn a deaf ear to sensible firearms reforms such as more stringent background checks.

If the Nevada rampage can mark a turning point toward structural reforms that lessen the all-too-frequent ritual of mass shootings in this country, some long-lasting good may result from this week’s nine minutes of evil that peppered the heart of Las Vegas and ripped at the soul of our nation.