Dear Future President,

My name is Mae Fleischmann. I am a student from Staples High School located in Westport, Connecticut. I am writing to you in an effort to bring to your attention a crucial issue the United States is facing. Gun violence across America has been getting progressively worse, and something needs to be done in attempt to resolve this crisis. Given the violent world we live in, you’d assume we’d have done something by now in attempt to solve the issue, and while measures have been taken, what we really need are stricter gun control laws.

Since 1966 there have been 127 different incidents of the mass shooting of four or more people and children. Many of these cases, taking place since 1966, occurred in a school or at the hands of a child under the age of 18. Information like this makes you wonder, who is getting a hold of dangerous firearms and how are they getting them. Two civilians, not even 15 years old, conducted an entire massacre in 1998 at Westside Middle School. “Andrew Golden, 11, and Mitchell Johnson, 13, pulled a fire alarm to flush students and teachers out of their Jonesboro, Ark., middle school on March 24, 1998, and began shooting, killing four girls and a teacher and wounding 10 others,” (The math of mass shootings). In this specific case the two adolescent boys had a total of nine guns between them. Of course there are many different ways of getting a hold of dangerous firearms, but with that many between only two boys it is clear some of the weapons had to be purchased. This example shows that our country doesn’t know who they are selling to. Weather the weapons are being sold over the internet or through a gun show, stricter precautions must be taken so the firearms do not end up in the wrong hands of either a child or criminal. Throughout our history our country has focussed on the protection of its civilians. Our country creates these ways of protection mainly due to extreme events that endanger american lives. Take 9/11 for example. After the tragic events when suicide bombers crashed planes into the twin towers, we reacted by creating stronger protections. These protections included increasing airport security and creating a “no fly” list. Protecting our civilians is a common American Ideal, and when there have been over 874 deaths, just in mass shootings, in the past 50 years, we should respect our american ideal of protection and protect our civilians.

I understand that both, you Mr. Trump and you Mrs. Clinton, have your own opinions on this topic. Mr. Trump, you view this issue as “protecting the second amendment”, as you put it on your website. Yes, it is important to protect our right to bear arms, and it makes sense to think that keeping the gun laws the way they are does support the american ideal of protection, because people are using firearms as self defense. Sadly, the ratio showing how many people are negatively affected by guns to how many people can protect using guns, show that most of the public is negatively impacted by guns. Not that owning a gun for self defense isn’t a right that every of age, law abiding citizen should have, because it is, but we need to control who gets the firearms. By increasing stricter gun laws people will be able to live by the second amendment, and better yet, it will be the american citizens that are entitled to this amendment, rather than ones that take advantage of the second amendment. Mrs. Clinton, you advertise that you agree with the idea that our country needs stricter gun laws, and you express specific laws that you think should be arranged. These laws include that american citizens should not be able to buy guns via the internet or at gun shows, and you believe that people purchasing guns are entitled to stricter background checks. I completely agree with all of these ideas and think that they are absolutely necessary in effort to protect our citizens against guns, while at the same time, allowing citizens to protect themselves using guns.

Gun violence is an important issue in the United States, that we can solve with stricter gun control laws. I hope that after reading this letter you will strongly consider introducing stricter gun laws in the United States. Protect the American citizens, make the right decision.

Sincerely Yours,

Mae Fleischmann

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/mass-shootings-in-america/

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/