Dear President,

The date was December 15, 1791 and an amendment was made to the Constitution stating that everyone will have the right to own and bear arms. Fast forward about 225 years and there are 300 million guns in the United States. I do not think that the authors of the Second Amendment ever considered that the number of guns would ever get so high.

Guns seem to be one of biggest growing concerns in the United States of America. It seems like more and more people have guns with few restrictions. There is violence everyday involving guns. On average 91 Americans are killed by guns every day. I think that there are definitely effective ways that we can deal with this problem without disregarding the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

Today many people buy guns legally and others take advantage of loopholes in the system. There is no end in sight to these loopholes. For instance, at gun shows it is very easy to buy guns without background checks. You are allowed to buy military grade assault rifles as a civilian. Not only assault rifles, but people can buy tanks. That's right, a civilian is allowed to buy a tank. For instance, the BMP-1 is still in service around the world and can be bought for $38,000. It would come with a 73mm gun and ATGM Launcher (AKA an Anti-Tank Guided Missile). The price is not even really more than a town car but could cause so much damage.

I believe that people should not be able to have guns that are as powerful as police or military. I also think that there should be a yearly limit to how much ammunition people can buy. Also, if people had to attend classes about gun safety, less people would get hurt. People who have been convicted of violent crimes, should not be able to buy guns. I think this was the original intention of the authors of the Second Amendment.

Because of these reasons, I think that you need to put a stop to loose gun laws. Because if you think about it, it doesn’t really make sense for a civilian to buy a tank or to have a huge arsenal of weapons. Thanks you for reading and keep my suggestions in mind.

Sincerely,

Sheldon M.