Ellie M.

Olympia, WA

XX November, 2016

The Next President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Next President:

Some issues have easy solutions, some are far more difficult and some don’t even have solutions. For example, gun control has an easy solution. Less guns. Although it is a right to be able to carry a firearm, there are people who are not mentally fit to own a gun, who have easy access to guns. There are also people on terrorist watch lists and no fly lists, who are still able to obtain guns and buy guns. Take the recent shooting in Orlando, Florida for example. The shooter was on a terrorist watch list. Yet he still had a gun. Which he used to injure 53 people, and kill 49 people. 49 people innocent people who were killed because this man believed that who they loved was wrong, and he was able to do so because he obtained a rifle, and a pistol.

The amount of guns in the United states, and even the world is out of control. In the United States there are 88.8 guns per 100 residents. More than any other country in the world. The next highest gun rate is 54.8, belonging to Yemen. That means that there are almost as many guns as there is people in the US. This is including children, who have way too easy of access to guns, causing many casualties. These are including school shootings, most attackers in school shootings are usually dealing with some sort of depression or anxiety caused by bullying, irresponsible parenting, violent content online, overpopulated schools, peer pressure, lack of school safety, easy accessibility of guns, and not enough mental health care. Even when kids do come forward before the shooting, telling people what they are going to do, they are either encouraged or the threat is ignored. This is also contributing to the amount of school shootings.

In a perfect world where none of this exists, there would be tests for people to pass to be able to own a gun. A mental stability test would help decrease the amount of shootings and deaths caused by guns and the lesser the amount of guns in the hands of mentally unstable people. Many adolescents don’t know how to deal with bullying, depression or anxiety, and they feel that they need to be in control, so they create a school shooting and usually take their own life afterwards. Another way to help gun control is having mandatory gun safes, and unless the guns are currently being used, then they are required to remain inside of the safe by law.

These solutions will improve life by drastically decreasing school shootings, and all shootings of that matter. It will decrease homicides and suicides, this will also help decrease mental illnesses, like depression and PTSD caused by shootings. Many people suffer everyday from the impacts that guns have had on them, and I feel these solutions will drastically decrease the amount of people in that position.

The next president should address gun control by passing initiative 1491. Initiative 1491 would allow family members, household members, and family to get a court order temporarily taking away their access to firearms, if they are showing signs of violent behavior, mental illness or are making threats towards others or themselves. The next president should also have mandatory gun safes. Increase mental health care and precautions. As well as increase knowledge of school shooting, in schools.

Sincerely,

Ellie M.

Works Cited

“Orlando Mass Shooting (2016).” Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, ABC-CLIO, 2016, issues.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/2024119. Accessed 4 Nov. 2016.

Reuters, Thomson. “Countries with the most guns list has some surprises.” CBC News, Butler, Samantha, 7 Jan. 2016, www.cbc.ca/news/world/small-arms-survey-countries-with-the-most-guns-1.3392204. Accessed 6 Nov. 2016.

Smuskiewicz, A. J. “School Violence: Overview.” Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, ABC-CLIO, 2016, issues.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/913445?cid=41. Accessed 4 Nov. 2016.