Dear Future President,

Many people think gun control will end gun violence, they are wrong. There are millions of people on both sides, pro gun control and pro gun rights. I believe in pro gun rights. Gun control will not reduce gun related crimes and violence. This is true because as more guns have been manufactured (approximately 10 million a year) since the 1990’s, gun related crimes as well as crime in general has dropped dramatically.

Right now our government is trying to ban assault rifles. They think that it will make it safer for people. Mr. President this will not stop gun violence, or even help lessen it, assault rifles only look scary. They are actually no different than any other rifle. Some assault rifles are more powerful than some rifles and less powerful than other rifles, just like any other. If we are to ban assault rifles then criminals will simply use the same weapon that just looks different.

We know that gun control does not lead to less deaths. In his book “The Bias Against Guns,” John Lott Jr. wrote that states with conceal carry laws have a lower gun murder/injury rate. Responsible people and guns are not dangerous. In fact they make themselves and everyone around them safer. Also states with stricter gun laws have fewer deaths and injuries. The other side of this argument is that more deaths occur in these states, but when you remove suicides those states have lower gun death rates. In fact the ten states with the least amount of deaths have less gun laws than most states. Guns are also a strong deterrent for a criminal. In a survey, 56% of felons in 10 state prisons said that if a potential victim had a gun then they would move on. This shows that people are safer with guns.

People often draw on other countries as an example of how gun control works there. Like in Great Britain, they have strict gun control and it seems to work pretty well. People want to adopt the same system or something similar to Great Britain. This will not work because we are very different countries and just because it works for them does not mean that it will work for us. The Constitution is a huge reason that their laws could never work for us. People often say that more guns have meant more crime and death, but statistics disagree. In fact since the 1990’s there has been a large decrease in violent and gun crime, even though millions of guns are produced every year.

Future President, I am not saying everyone should have guns. Felons for instance, we can’t endanger our people by giving convicted felons guns. Inevitably felons are going to get guns, and at that point people are safer with guns to defend themselves. It is our right to own guns and protect ourselves and families. Banning guns is pointless and dangerous, but hey it is your decision… please future President, make a good one.

Respectfully,

Daniel Graves