October 23, 2016

Dear Future President:

If you are eighteen years or older you can own a gun in America. Owning a gun is possible before consuming alcohol. We should increase the age at which that a citizen can own a gun from eighteen to twenty one. Increasing the age at which you can own a gun will stop guns from going into immature hand. Changing the law will protect United States citizens.

You are legally an adult at age eighteen, but according to Dr. Sandra Aamodt “Their prefrontal cortex is not yet fully developed. That's the part of the brain that helps you to inhibit impulses and to plan and organize your behavior to reach a goal.”(Aamodt) At age twenty one your brain will be more developed, even though it is not fully developed until twenty five. Having the age in-between eighteen and twenty five is a good halfway point, and the brain is developed more than the brain at eighteen. Serving in the military at eighteen allows you to bypass the law. If you hunt for food and are below twenty one, there are other ways to hunt than shooting.

Giving a weapon to someone who may not be mature enough to handle it is dangerous. Although the change is only three years, the age is closer to the fully developed age “Brain scans show clearly that the brain is not fully finished developing until about age 25.”(Aamodt) According to Dr. Aamodt. If you were to buy a gun at eighteen before the law passes you would be allowed to keep it. The change to the age would prevent naïve adults from making bad decisions. Increasing the age to only twenty-one is a good compromise for people who want guns, and people who think we should have more control on guns.

Sincerely,

Phoenix Jonathon Knowles

Works Cited

Aamodt, Sandra. Personal Interview. October 10, 2011.