To Whom it may concern,

The time for reasonable restrictions on gun ownership is long overdue. We’ve already endured far too many mass shootings of innocent Americans, including children who barely started their first year of kindergarten. How many more of these tragic shootings are we going to let pass into the fog before we finally begin to do something about it? Although owning a gun is a constitutional amendment, killing innocent people is not. We must do something so that people are able to exercise their right to bare arms, as well as amend the laws that the government has put into place in order to keep people, and students safe. We can do this by requiring gun owners prove to their worthiness of owning a gun, removing guns from learning environments, and proving your mental worthiness to own a gun.

One proposed solution to control gun ownership is to require gun owners, and/or future gun owners to demonstrate their responsibility and worthiness to carry a firearm. This must include appropriate training at an approved firing range, an education about firearms, testing on the range, and a background check. If we make it a point to determine who is worthy of carrying a firearm, it could resolve many of the problems we are facing. According to the Law Center of Gun violence, 31% of fatal shootings are deemed unintentional or accidental. If our society requires this of the citizens who want to obtain firearms, then it will reduce the fatality resulted by guns and make it more difficult for untrained and uneducated people to get their hands on weapons. The Center of Gun Violence backs up this notion with the statement mentioned above. We must prove our worthiness to carry a firearm by demonstrating to authorities that we can control the firearm by practicing on a shooting range. Another monumental adjustment, is to make sure each gun vender knows who is buying the weapon(s) that are being sold hence enforcing background checks.Each store selling firearms should be required to check the history of the buyer in order improve safety of the United States. Testing should also be conducted at the time the license is renewed. We already require this of all automobile drivers, and no less should be expected of gun owners. In a similar context, all firearms must bear appropriate serial numbers, and all sales and transfers must be registered. While the rights of the Second Amendment must be protected , it’s not a blank check. These new enforcements that would regulate who is deemed worthy of carrying firearms could help improve the situation of unworthy arm bearing citizens shooting innocent Americans in the near future.

Another serious problem relating to the issue of gun control, is guns in the learning environment. When there are deadly firearms in the presence of children and teens, accidental or purposeful shootings could easily happen. A solution put in place by The National Rifle Association’s is to remove guns from the school environment completely. In many schools, certain security personel have acsess to guns. When guns are present in the learning environment, children would have easier access and potential for accidents. More guns only increase the potential for more killings, either by accident or fault. Arm bearing staff in schools send the wrong message to our children who go to school to learn, not to feel threatened or scared by the presence of a weapon. We want our educators to focus on the education of children, not the idea that a deadly weapon is in the prescence of many small children. Teachers and staff in schools should not feel as if they are security guards, instead they should be focusing on educating. We must delegate only certain staff to keep kids and teachers in schools safe, instead of pawn this heavy weighing responsibility on to our educators.

In addition to background checks, and tests to prove your worthiness of carrying a firearm, the mental fitness of anyone buying a gun should be verified. We’ve seen more than enough of these deranged killers to conclude they usually have mental issues that haven’t been seriously diagnosed and treated. Many of these killers are a threat to society without guns, and become an uncontrollable, lethal force when armed. That was clearly the case in the 2012 incident of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. The killer was a 20 year old male, it was concluded that he suffered from a multitude of mental illness’. Obsessive compulsive disorder, psychopathic tendencies, and anger issues. How could we be so naive as to let such a man get a hold of 30 pounds of weapons including a semiautomatic rifle that took the life of twenty children ages six to seven. Guns are dangerous in the hands of the wrong people, and those people must be prevented from buying and owning them. Included in that group are convicted felons, the mentally unstable, and anyone who can’t pass a thorough background investigation. A clear line must be drawn to prevent anyone that fall into the above categories from getting ahold of guns. Strict regulations on people that fall into these categories will make it far more difficult for questionable buyers to acquire weapons.

In order to regulate gun ownership and keep people safe in America, we must make sure to conduct tests demonstrating our responsibility with guns, keep guns out schools so that accidents don’t happen, and also prove our mental fitness so that we don’t just let potential killers purchase guns under no restrictions. Our future president could help tremendously with these efforts and hopefully we will see an improvement with gun ownership regulations in the near future with the coming election.

Sincerely, Elizabeth O

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/11/25/report-sandy-hook-shooter-adam-lanza-was-obsessed-with-mass-shootings

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/11/25/report-sandy-hook-shooter-adam-lanza-was-obsessed-with-mass-shootings

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/11/25/report-sandy-hook-shooter-adam-lanza-was-obsessed-with-mass-shootings

https://tobecomeateacher.org/resources/teachers-stand-on-guns-in-classrooms/