Dear Mr. or Mrs. President,

Congratulations on becoming an essential and powerful part of the United States government. To begin, I would like to thank you for taking the time for reading my letter and considering the ideas I bring about. I believe that gun violence is a huge issue that impacts people not only in the United States, but all across the world. Guns may be used as protection, but they are also used in mass murders. I do not believe that guns should be completely eliminated as it is said that they are allowed in the 2nd Amendment. I believe guns should have limits. They should only be used to protect a family or a group of people. I ask you this as gun violence increases, what will you do to decrease the number of deaths caused by gun violence?

First, I think that there needs to be stricter laws on gun control because of violence in schools. On December 14th, 2012; 26 adults and children were shot by Adam Lanza. Most people are well aware of this heartbreaking story, but there are many other stories of school shootings in the U.S. There has been 199 school shootings across the country since 2013.₁ If stricter regulations were placed onto gun control, gun violence would lower.

Continuing on, I believe guns need to have stricter rules and regulations also due to the huge amount of suicides. If someone has a mental problem, they should have proper care and have limited access to guns. It is discussed in the article, “Gun Control Could Help Prevent Suicide” that “It is time for the American people to understand that in looking for solutions to crime and violence by keeping a handgun at home they are placing themselves, and young people who often act impulsively, at much greater risk. More than 17,000 Americans die annually from self-inflicted firearm injuries. This

staggering death toll would be greatly reduced if handguns were removed from homes"₂.

Finally, I think stricter precautions need to be taken in order to decrease the number of accidental shooting of children. Many children have died due to this. Children have found guns in their homes and got curious as to what they do. Many end up injured or killed. It is discussed in the article, “Gun Ownership with Stricter Controls” that “Guns are responsible for roughly 30,000 deaths a year in America; more than half of those deaths are suicides. In 2010, 606 people, 62 of them children younger than 15, died in accidental shootings”.₃

In attempts to decrease the number of tragedies caused by guns, the first step should be to place stricter background checks on people interested in purchasing guns. To get a bigger or more powerful gun, they need to be mentally stable and agree to use the gun appropriately. The strength of a person’s mental issues should determine the power of the gun they are allowed to have. Also, parents should agree to hide guns appropriately from children. They should put them in a safe where the children cannot reach it. Guns cause major issue and I think that an extremely important part of holding the power of president is to put gun restrictions as a priority. Thank you for your consideration and congratulations on becoming the next president of the United States.