Mass Shootings in America

The Fourth of July shocked my community. I live in Glenview, Illinois, roughly eight miles from Highland Park, Illinois. On July 4th, 2022, seven lives were lost, and dozens were injured while attending a parade that was meant to celebrate the country that we live in. The physical wounds from the gunshots left hospitals busy with emergency surgeries to save some of the parade-goers lives. One eight-year-old boy was so severely injured that he is left paralyzed from the waist down because of a severed spinal cord. In my own figure skating community, one girl witnessed her mother and father get shot and had to accompany them to the hospital, all the while keeping in touch with her coach, trying to calm down. It probably came as such a shock to her that going to a light-hearted parade turned into taking on the stress of running her family while her parents recovered from their injuries. My boss was also at the parade and had to take a few days off of work to process what had happened. Luckily, she escaped with only a bruise. However, many in the once thought "safe community" of Highland Park are left to process what took place. According to the CDC, firearms are now the number one cause of death for children in the United States of America surpassing cancer and motor vehicle accidents. The fact that firearms are number one raises a serious concern for our community's health. There have been over 300 mass shootings in the United States in 2022 so far. This number is sadly continuing to rise, and more and more people are dying at the expense of another person holding a gun. Something must be done to stop the use of guns. If nothing changes, United States citizens will have to constantly worry and think of a plan in any situation in case of an active shooter emergency. The community is suffering, and it needs to stop.