In what was supposed to be a day of celebration, love, and community, will now forever be known as the day of the Super Bowl LVIII parade shooting. 1 person killed. 29 and counting injured. Over half of them are reportedly under age 16. This shooting coming 6 early years after the Parkland shooting in Florida, and only a few days after Joel Osteen's church service in Texas was shot up. I mean seriously people, when is this going to end? Politicians, Senators, even the Presidents of the United States have pushed this issue off of their desks and out of their offices, leaving children, parents, teachers, mall workers, movie-goers, grocery shoppers, hospital patients, college students, and now professional athletes and their fans to pick up the pieces. I, myself, am a survivor of a school shooting in 2013 where one of my classmates was killed before the shooter took his own life. I remember this event being a pivotal moment of my life; a moment where even as a young high school freshman, I tried to turn a seriously traumatic event into something that will build character, and make me stronger; because that is the way Claire and her family would want me to proceed with life. "Choose Love" was the phrase that Mr. Davis used in his speech after his daughter's funeral, and I am disgusted how many people have since continued to choose hatred. It is time as a nation we choose love, and begin to focus on the mental health crisis and gun crisis that is in the United States. It is time to accept the fact that not ONLY do we have a mental health crisis, we have a gun problem. A severe, major, OUTRIGHT STUPID gun problem. At some point, we need to realize as citizens of a nation with the most prestigious and elite military in the world, we do not need high powered assault rifles to defend ourselves- you can't even hunt game with such a weapon. We are a country of democracy and a country where our voices, votes, and actions and behaviors matter. How we love one another matters, how we disagree with each other matters, and above all, for God's sake, our children matter. Why is it that the United States is the only nation with this issue? Why is it that we have a mass shooting EVERY SINGLE DAY in this country? Why are people with a clear-cut history of suicidal ideation, violent outbursts, and threats against themselves and those around them allowed to purchase a semi-automatic rifle and enough ammunition to fight a small militia; a rifle designed to maim, destroy, and kill; A rifle that was invented for the sole purpose of war and destruction. We have gone absolutely insane as Americans when it comes to discussing and provoking change in this issue, and there have been ZERO changes to federal laws despite there being, on average, 2 mass shootings a day since January 1st of 2023. Social media has completely brainwashed the people and this division only leads to more violence, and more people hiding behind a keyboard thinking they know what the hell is going on. Just last year, the state of Missouri was at the Capitol building protesting against local police efforting to sanction the purchase of assault rifles. Yes, you read that right- people actually were fighting the local police departments, those who protect and serve the public, and those who responded within seconds to the chaos that unfolded yesterday. At the end of the day, I do understand defending yourself, your family, and your property, and I do believe every American (within substantial reason) should have the right to bear arms, however, this law was created over a hundred years ago when soldiers were shooting muskets at each other; times and weaponization has changed, and in all of the mass shootings we have had to bare witness or victim to, there is one common denominator: assault rifles. I, myself, love to go and shoot guns, including assault rifles, with my buddies in Burlington, or even back to my college days in Leavenworth, Kansas, but I don't think my entertainment is worth the hundreds of lives of innocent children. How many children will we bury and be responsible for their deaths?  Why are firearms the number one cause of death for children in America? How many families will continue to be completely destroyed because some of us think our entertainment is more important? I say us, because this is an issue that every single American is impacted by. You, or someone you know, has either been in, or knows somebody who has been impacted by a mass shooting, and that is just disgusting. We should be ashamed of ourselves for allowing such an issue to prolong for now decades, all the while hundreds of lives and families are completely shattered. I write this article today with great sadness and emotion because children are the now the targets. Children are more prepared for such events than adults, but it is only because they have to learn how to defned themselves in school. The fact that we have invoked programs into schools nationwide to educate children on what to do during a an active shooter situation before we invoked a law into the very guns that are killing them, is abysmal, shameful, and completely idiotic. It is time to stand up for our future generations of children, once and for all, because sooner or later, we won't be able to go anywhere anymore, and we will live our lives in constant fear for ourselves, or somebody we love being killed to senseless gun violence. Be a good person and choose love. 

I wanted to thank the men and women both in uniform, and those in attendance as fans, as well as any players or coaching staff for their incredible bravery, strength, resilience, or their calming presences for their roles in saving the lives of many more. Whether it was comforting a child, making an arrest, helping people find safety, or actually tackling the assailant; love is strong, and you all are heroes.