This morning, Sunday, June 12, 2016, I sat down in front of my television with breakfast to catch up on what news had occurred over the weekend. Soon I realize that all of the news channels are covering the same thing: The Orlando nightclub shooting. Suddenly I have become unable to eat my breakfast because of the sadness I feel for the people affected by this tragedy. Everyone seems so stuck on whether or not this was a terrorist attack. The father of the shooter has also described that their son was not happy with seeing a gay couple in Miami. Regardless of hate crime or terrorist attack, this is an attack on ALL Americans either way. But the one thing that continues to stick out in my mind the most is that these were people exactly like me. They were created exactly like myself, and they deserve just as much safety as I feel when I go places. Nobody deserves to be scared for their lives just because of their differing beliefs. The amount of grief that lies on my heart this morning is indescribable in its weight.

As someone who has gone to nightclubs before, I can only imagine the excitement these individuals felt as they left their hotels and homes to go out for a night of fun. They were probably excited to get a night out with their friends; maybe they had a bad week and needed to relieve some stress, perhaps they were meeting up with friends they hadn’t seen in a while, and may they just decided that they were in need of a fun night out. Regardless of why they went to the nightclub, they all went to have a good time. It is so upsetting to think about the fact that 50 of those people went in fully expecting to return to their friends and family later on that night or the next morning. They never expected that they would go into this nightclub and never come out.

I’m sure in a time like this, many people and government officials will start bantering the “gun control this, gun control that” that they usually do. But think about something before you jump on that bandwagon; that night club most likely didn’t have a sign that said: “guns welcome.” This man that committed such a heinous and disgusting crime was not worried about whether guns were allowed in the building or not; he went in with one objective: Kill as many as possible. These are the kind of things we, as Americans, need to be thinking about when we support political candidates that are in favor of taking away our guns. I can promise you, if someone in that club would’ve had a concealed handgun license and been carrying that night, the death toll would have never reached double digits. I can’t predict what would’ve happened, but I can tell you that anyone who knows anything about guns would have been able to stop this shooter before so many innocent lives were lost.

Furthermore, if this was a terrorist attack, why on God's green earth has someone not done something to stop this group!? How can we stand by and complain that they are literally killing hundreds of people, and then just not do anything about it? Every single individual that is a part of ISIS deserves to be repormanded for their actions. America is supposed to have the strongest army, yet we will not use it against people that are killing our people! Someone needs to step up and put ISIS to rest or we can continue to expect tragedies just like this for years to come. America needs to stop being so scared and afraid to hurt others feelings and take action instead of inviting the terrorist into our country to continue killing our citizens.

My heart breaks for the families that lost someone because of this. I cannot even begin to imagine my friend or family member being murdered either as a terrorist attack or as a hate crime against their beliefs. I can't imagine anyone attacking me for being American, or being a Christian. People should not be so caught up on what they believe in a time like this, but more concerned with the fact that these were innocent people that had not hurt anyone. They didn’t come into this club asking to be shot; they went into the club because they saw it as a haven for others with the same ideals as themselves. America has just seen one of its most devastating tragedies, and it makes me sick to think about the heartbreak everyone is experiencing this morning. Regardless of your beliefs, if you are American, you should feel just as attacked as the people in that club. These were people, just like you and I.

The police officers that went into the club last night and put a stop to this mass shooting are the heroes. They are everyday heroes that took action, regardless of their own lives being put in danger. Every person in America should respect these officers and be forever grateful for their selfless actions. Police officers do not get much recognition these days and they are often scrutinized for their actions, but in situations like these, normal citizens would not be able to live their lives if it weren't for the men in blue.