Are Americans becoming desensitized to mass shootings?

This week, 17 families go home to silent rooms. Victims lives taken too soon.

In November, 26 people were gunned down while sitting for Sunday service in Texas. The youngest victim was just a baby.

A month before that a man set up in a hotel room and fired a barrage of bullets down on a crowd gathered for a country concert – 58 dead.

The images of the shootings have a lasting effect on all of us, but what about the faces of the victims.

“It seems like there’s a shooting every day or every week and we almost forgotten about the last big one before the next one happens. It’s scary,” Peter Rutledge said.

MORE: Reactions, concerns & improving safety in schools

Some people say they’re becoming numb to these tragedies.

“It’s becoming part of our culture, part of growing up and it shouldn’t be,” said Antonio Gonzalez of Fort Myers, wondering when the seemingly endless violence will stop, “It was the shooting in fort Lauderdale and yeah youre right its hard to even name them because there’s so many now.”

In the most recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday, 17 people died, and many lives were changed in an instant.

Political psychologist Dr. Bart Rossi says while he admits our shock value is diminishing, we’re also becoming more frustrated, “I think we have what psychologist call retained anger. I’ts anger over time that’s generating into something else. it’s almost a rage we have at times when this occurs because we feel that nothing is being done”

MORE: Photos of victims of the Parkland school shooting

For change, many say it’s less about learning to forget and more about dealing with the issues, head on.

“We don’t think about mental health. We want to avoid it and I think it’s very odd in our society and we have it backwards,” Dr. Rossi said, adding, “Mental health has been given a lot of scars, people want to brush it under the table.”

We want to hear what you think. Are we becoming desensitized given the number of school shootings? We posted the question on our Facebook page. Click the link to join the conversation.