October 24, 2016

Mr./Mrs. President

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr./Mrs. President:

I am an eighth grade student at Achieve Charter School of Paradise. I am thirteen years-old and I live in Paradise, CA. I want to congratulate you on taking the huge role of being the 45th president of the United States. It’s such a huge honor to be having you as our president and to be writing to you today. I have a very important topic to discuss with you that would help a lot with our country. As a thirteen year-old, I’ve seen many movies, heard discussions, and seen many articles about the problem of gun control.

To start off with this discussion, more gun control laws would reduce the amount of gun deaths. According to Procon.org, there were About 464,033 total gun deaths, 270,237 suicides, 174,773 homicides, and 9,983 unintentional deaths. Guns were the leading cause of deaths by homicides and suicides. About 200 Americans go to the emergency rooms every day with gunshot wounds. Also, about 5 women are murdered with guns everyday in the U.S., as well. During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, 5,634 soldiers were killed with a gun and 6,410 women were killed with a gun by an intimate partner. Lastly, gun violence costed each person in the United States, roughly $564 and the United States government $5.5 million in lost tax revenue. In 2010, there were 36,341 emergency room visits and 25,024 hospitalizations for gun injuries, costing about $6.3 million.

Another reason for making gun control a law, is that a majority of adults, including gun owners, support common sense gun control such as background checks, bans on assault weapons, and bans on high-capacity magazines. According to Procon.org, in March, 2013, 83% of all adults surveyed approval of background checks for private and gun show sales, 56% approved of assault weapon bans, and 53% approved of high-capacity magazine bans. As much as 40% of all gun sales are undocumented party gun sales that don’t require a background check. The Mother Jones Investigation, found that high-capacity magazines were used in at least 50% of the 62 mass shootings between 1982 and 2012. When they were used, the death rate rose by 63% and the injury rate rose by 156%. David H Chapman says that “A high-capacity magazine ‘turns a killer into a killing machine”. Background checks prevent criminals and other dangerous people from getting guns.

Lastly, more gun control leads to fewer suicides. According to Procon.org, between 1993 and 2013, there were 270,237 firearm suicides in the U.S., accounting for about 52% of all suicides during those years. When gun ownership went down in our country, overall suicide rates went down. Firearm-related suicides accounted for 61% of the gun deaths between 2000 and 2010. A person is more unlikely to commit suicide with poison or a knife when a gun is available.

In the final analysis, you may have to think about some issues about making gun control a law. Like, would people want gun control if more background checks occurred on them, that they would think that it is invasion of privacy? You may also want to ask yourself, “Even if the gun control law was made, would it still prevent criminals from obtaining guns or breaking the laws?”. The United States has a serious, undeniable problem with gun violence and we want our voices to be heard to stop that issue! Thank you Mr./Mrs. President for reading my letter and I hope this problem of gun control will be resolved in the future by your help.

Sincerely,

Sophia S.