Dear Next President,

I would like to start this letter off in a positive way. It is nearly impossible, though, because there is nothing good about the topic I am addressing. There are multiple problems in the USA, and I don’t even know where to start. There is one topic, however, that really catches my attention and I hope it catches your attention too. That topic would be gun control and violence. Attacks happen all over the world, every day. It’s all over the news daily. People’s lives are taken away because some delinquent decides to kill someone. People sob and cry because of their lost family members and friends. It goes on and on and it never stops. This world needs to be safer and it shouldn’t have as many violent attacks. I don’t want the United States of America to be known for all of the violence and specifically gun violence. The US needs to make more laws and restrictions to keep everyone safe. Many states don’t require background checks. The weapons dealers just check their licenses and information like that. They should make everyone get a thorough background check before they get a weapon so people don’t take the lives of innocent people.

In December 2014, Bradley Stone of Pennsylvania attacked and killed several people in locations very near to my home. He had been having family issues, and he decided to deal with them in a violent and dangerous way. There was a report that there was women found dead in Lower Salford Township. After that, he targeted and killed six other people. One of the people, a man named Aaron Flick or AJ, lived right by my grandmother’s house and was my father’s childhood friend. On December 15, my grandmother was letting her dog out, and all of the sudden, some police came running toward her. They were telling her to get inside as soon as possible because Stone was in the alley behind her house and he was dangerous. My grandmother quickly got her dog and ran inside. Bradley, sadly, then murdered AJ and a couple other family members minutes later. My dad got the news after that all happened because my grandmother called him and told him everything that happened. A couple weeks later, my father and my grandmother went to Flick’s funeral. These situations should not be happening in the world. If Stone purchased a gun in Pennsylvania, he would get a background check. We need to make more laws to keep everyone safe!

I then started researching this issue, and found quite a lot of information. According to the Newsela article, “President Unveils Plan To Keep Guns Over Stricter Control,” “On Tuesday, President Barack Obama announced his plan for gun sales in the United States. He wants to tighten control of guns and have stricter laws.” Obama wants to make stricter gun laws and take control of all the weapons. He wants to make sure everyone gets a background check, and get more information too. I agree because if every state did thorough background checks, then maybe this country would have less attacks. There are approximately 33,636 deaths from gun attacks. If you make a law that make sure every gets a thorough background check, it could make the state safer. Maybe the numbers will reduce to 33,000. I really hope that whoever becomes president goes through with Obama’s plan because it could really help the world. Another example of a shooting was in Florida at a gay dance club. It was on June 12, 2016, when someone shot fifty people and fifty three got hurt. It was a terrorist attack, and the guy that attacked was name Omar Mateen. The police said they think Mateen has something to do with ISIS because he said he was loyal to them. The US needs to create more laws to keep everyone in this country happy.

There are so many causes of gun violence. Some causes are from violent content in games and movies, mental illness, use of drugs, and revenge. There are many violent games and movies, so many kids, teenagers, and adults watch them and then they get a bad idea from it. They think since it’s happening in a movie/game, it's okay if they do it in the real world. It’s the same situation with the mental illness. They do not understand, though, that putting someone’s life is danger is not okay and never will be. Violence is never the right way to deal with your problems. People that do drugs sometimes also act out. Drugs make people behave strangely, so people will take the drugs, get high, and then act out. People probably don’t even know what they are doing or what they have done until afterwards. Many people also commit violent crimes for revenge. They plan it out and then they go through with the plan. That is called first degree murder and is completely unacceptable. We need to make boundaries to keep this world a better place.

I think that the United States of America should make a law to make this place a safer and better place to live. This world could make a law that everyone that wants to purchase a gun or weapon has to go through a thorough background check. That will hopefully make the US safer and better and we could maybe decrease the amount of gun attacks in this world. I hope by 2020 that the number of deaths from 33,636 drops significantly. So many people lose their family members or very close friends due to unnecessary violence. This decision is yours now. You get to make a choice; do you want to help the world and make a law to make this place safer, or ignore this letter and go on with your life?

Sincerely,

Madison S., Pennsylvania