Dear Commander-in-Chief,                                                                                          November 7, 2016

“The United States, with less than 5 percent of the world's population, has about 35–50 percent of the world's civilian-owned guns, according to a 2007 report by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey. It ranks number one in firearms per capita. The United States also has the highest homicide-by-firearm rate among the world's most developed nations.” said Council on Foreign Relations. This shows that america’s gun count is in direct correlation with the death rate. With 136 mass shootings in the first 164 days of this year, you think it would be obvious that we need to do something. Are americans guns so important to them that they are willing to have so many people die?

“Suicides, many by individuals with undiagnosed mental illness, account for about 60 percent of gun deaths.” said Council on Foreign Relations. That shows that not all gun deaths are from “gun toting” gangsters. We need to get passed the media influence opinion and look at the facts. We need mental health checks more than we need additional gun control laws. “The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits any person from selling or otherwise transferring a firearm or ammunition to any person who has been “adjudicated as a mental defective” or “committed to any mental institution.”1 Such persons are prohibited from possessing firearms.2” wrote smartgunlaws.com. The reason we have so many deaths is because so many people go undiagnosed. 

My opinion is we shouldn’t take away guns. “The average police response time for verified (audio or video) alarm police dispatches is around seven minutes, nationwide, according to Chelsea Mitchell from Secure Pacific Corp.” said asecurelife.com. In that time families could be dead and the killer could be gone. Now I do believe that the death rate is far to high. So I propose that along with a background check, buyers must also perform a mental health check. We can't just rely on if someone looks like they have a mental illness, we have to be sure. This will keep families and children safe.

~A Concerned Citizen 

Citations:

@asecurelife. "Average Police Response Time: Will They Arrive Before It's Too Late?" ASecureLifecom. N.p., 07 June 2016. Web. 07 Nov. 2016. <http://www.asecurelife.com/average-police-response-time/>.

"U.S. Gun Policy: Global Comparisons." Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016. <http://www.cfr.org/society-and-culture/us-gun-policy-global-comparisons/p29735>.

"Federal Law on Mental Health Reporting." Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016. <http://smartgunlaws.org/gun-laws/federal-law/sales-transfers/mental-health-reporting/>.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjgwcqglpfQAhUO5mMKHbOXBJIQjhwIBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marlenvargasdelrazo.com%2Fgun-control-or-self-control%2F&psig=AFQjCNEHYm6XJVg7z7oRiVxlKqpQu0Z3ng&ust=1478626273600873

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