Dear Next President,

I come to you in this letter addressing the long going issue of gun violence in America. This topic is one of frustration and anger, as gun violence has been a serious issue in this country. I am writing to you due to the fact that you’re going to be our new leader, and it’s one of your main responsibilities to take care of the issues that take place in our home, the United States, “the land of the free.”

To first understand the issue of gun violence, we must look into the background of guns and their history in America. Ownership of a gun is a part of your citizen rights, for it’s mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. With this right, laws were created to keep a control on these guns, which can be easily purchased. As German Lopez, a journalist at Vox Media, states, “The US has by far the highest number of privately owned guns in the world.” However, according to the KQED website, “recent legislative efforts to strengthen the nation’s exceptionally loose gun control laws have consistently failed.” As you can see, the right to own a gun has been a right in this country from the beginning. Keeping a control on the laws and usage of guns is the issue at hand.

Statistics and data prove the fact that gun violence in America is one of our biggest problems. Producer of “The Lowdown”, KQED’s multimedia news education blog, states the following, “The United States has the highest rate of gun violence among developed countries.” Also stated is the fact that more “than 30,000 people in the U.S. are killed by firearms each year, about two-thirds of which are suicides.” These are a lot of deaths that occur, just because of what? Guns. As stated in the previous paragraph, it’s extremely simple to get ahold of a gun. Vox Media simply puts it, “Making more guns more accessible means more guns, and more guns mean more deaths.” More guns, equals more deaths, and this is a fact. With this being said, gun control is needed. We need stronger laws to put a restraint on the usage of guns and the simple ability to obtain a gun. Now one may ask why such laws haven’t been put in place? A good percentage of Americans support gun control, yet laws can’t be put in place due to the fact that so many citizens think that a control on guns means a violation of rights. This leads to my next thought.

With support for gun control, comes opponents. Many supporters for guns in America look past the statistics and the fact that this country has a problem with guns. According to Vox Media, opponents are “able to portray the law as contrary to the right to own guns.“ These people favor staying true to the rights of citizenship and that citizens indeed have the right to own a gun. And, although this is true, we must realize that some misuse this right for their own good. When most people don’t realize this, it leads to the problem that we have now, the increasing rates of gun violence. Therefore, it is essential that we enact or pass common sense gun control laws that majority of citizens can support and agree with.

You’re going to be leading this country and as a leader you need to understand the important issue at hand and that’s gun violence. It has been a problem in this country and will always be a problem until something is fixed, and you, along with a little help, have the power to do so. I hope my letter has shown a little light on a topic as major as this one. I believe in you and your ability to better this country.

With warm regards,

C.J.