Seems like flags are flown at half-staff all the time nowadays.  Was this always the case back in the days?  Every life is precious and lots of people do great things, but I think it's time to tighten up the rules for this and require it to be a very heroic persons and top level officials or limit it to 5 times per year max.

"Flags, vigil in Hawaii honor slain Capital Gazette journalists"

I've been thinking the same thing.
It wasn't like that before.

After reading about this, apparently the POTUS initially said no to half-staff.
But the Governor of Maryland already pulled the flag trigger last week Friday.
So POTUS caves in to peer pressure and pulls the flag too.
Therefore MSM immediately brands him as a hypocrite.

damned if you do, damned if you don't

Maybe the issue isn't lowering flags for things we didn't used to.  Maybe we're just seeing way too many "tragic events" now.

Depending on where you get your numbers, it seems there were more than twice as many mass murder incidents under Obama's 8 years in office than mass shootings under Bush for 8 years  That's 37 vs. 15..

I don't think the flag was lowered for every mass murder incident, just those that were particularly tragic or got the most press coverage.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/06/15/obama-flags-at-half-staff-proclamations/85891870/

Obama has ordered flags at half-staff more than any president in history

Since 2009, Obama has issued 66 proclamations to fly the flag at half-staff, exceeding President George W. Bush's 58
and Bill Clinton's 50, according to a USA TODAY analysis of presidential proclamations.

Annual observances such as Memorial Day and Pearl Harbor day have contributed to that total, as have the deaths of
notable public figures like Sen. Robert Byrd, Sen. Ted Kennedy, former first lady Nancy Reagan and Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia.

But it's a spate of national tragedies — from the Fort Hood shooting that claimed 13 lives in 2009 to the most recent
carnage in Orlando — that have distinguished the Obama presidency. Fourteen proclamations honoring the victims of
those tragedies have accounted for 79 days with the flag over the White House at half-staff, more than half of the
158-day total under Obama.

it's like roadside memorials

I noticed the increased frequency too. It is what it is. Don’t see any point in an arbitrary limit. 

It's part of the pussification of America.

It's like calling everyone Heroes. At some point it becomes ridiculous and loses all meaning

I've been thinking the same thing.
It wasn't like that before.

that's what she said

Half-staff flags should be like the medal of honor for national/state accomplishments and heroic acts.  When you give an award out to everyone it loses it's meaning.  Starts looking like this: