Christina Grimmie was on top of the world. As a finalist of The Voice, a booming Youtuber with over 3 million followers, and a singer who has released 2 EP’s and one album, Grimmie had the world in the palm of her hands.

While on her All the Lights Tour with the band Before You Exit, Grimmie stopped in Orlando to perform at Orlando’s Plaza Live. After an intimate performance, she was signing autographs with the band before she was shot three times.

After being taken to a local hospital ER, she died.

At a mere 22 years old, Christina Grimmie died.

I am indescribably pained to write this article, this hits so close to home for me. Personally, I had been following Grimmie for years upon years. As a New Jersey native, she became a hit in 2010 when she performed a cover of “Just a Dream” by Nelly with Sam Tsui. The video on Youtube got over 110 million views.

I thought that the first time I would see Grimmie on major news stations, it would be about her success and impact on the world. Not because she died.

Grimmie was a beautiful, talented girl who spent her career supporting charities, specifically The Humane Society of the United States, which is an organization for protecting animals.

This death brings so many issues into play.

The first one that comes to mind is security. The murderer who killed Grimmie, who was identified as Kevin James Loibl, was armed with two handguns, two loading magazines, and a large hunting knife.

How do you get into a concert with not one gun, but two? And a large hunting knife?

Reports say that there were no metal detection machines present or pat-downs, only bag checks.

The fact of the matter is that if the security had screened the people before they had entered the show, Grimmie might have been alive right now.

However, there is a broader issue at hand: gun control.

The reason why there is a need for high security is because of the loose (or just lack of in general) gun control laws. If the man who shot Grimmie was mentally ill (which he clearly was), he should not have had a gun.

Less than one million people have been denied a gun based on background check out of a total of over one hundred million checks. 

Some of the questions on these background checks include “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any other depressant?” Now, I could be wrong, but simply asking someone if they are addicted to drugs is not going to get someone to confess. There need to be checks for drug abuse, alcohol abuse, mental illnesses, but there aren’t.

Because what it really comes down to is that Grimmie’s death was not only a loss of genuine, mass talent, but more importantly, it was the loss of an innocent person. Grimmie did nothing to deserve being shot three times.

This also brings up the fact however, that Grimmie is not the only victim of gun violence.

Firearms are used in about seven out of ten killings and an estimated ninety one Americans are killed with guns a day. To put that into perspective, at that rate the sophomore class of 2015 (which has about 380 students) would all be dead in five days. The entire sophomore class would be dead in one school week.

Ninety-one people who could have been the next Albert Einstein or Prince die per day. Not even concerning talent, ninety-one innocent people (just like you and me) and dying a day because ignorant people are walking around with guns. And American, the “land of the free and the home of the brave” is supplying them with these guns.

Stop the violence and advocate for gun control.

Christina Grimmie may have died, but there are so many other innocents who will follow if there isn’t change.

I’m speechless, heartbroken and absolutely numb from the news of her death. Rest in Peace Grimmie, I’ll never forget you.

But what I will say is: you deserved better.