With three mass shootings that claimed a total of 34 lives taking place in Gilroy, California, Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas within a single week, it's certainly understandable that gun violence would have a haunting presence in people's minds right now.
With that in mind, the fact that a crowd in Times Square fled after mistaking backfiring motorcycles on Tuesday provides a telling example of how guns have been at the epicenter of American anxiety in the days since.
As this issue seems to show no signs of improvement with each passing year, some photos that people may have thought nothing of years before can now prompt some serious discussion about how guns should be perceived in American society.
Yesterday, such a discussion unfolded on Twitter.