Dear next President,

117,000 Americans are shot every year according to Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. That is a staggering statistic that could be much lower if our gun laws were stricter. A few ways to lower that number are, one ban unnecessary attachments such as clips/drums over 30 rounds and silencers, two make it necessary for a background check to take place every time a gun is purchased, and lastly increase the age requirement to own a gun to at least 18 years of age for all types of guns.

On July 20, 2012, James Holmes walked into a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and started firing. He was able to get off 76 shots and killed 12 people while injuring 70 more. According to an article published by Newsweek. How was he able to get off so many shots and injure so many innocent people, because he had a 100-round drum, that’s why. Now this shooting could have been not nearly as bad if 100-round drums were illegal. Let’s say instead of a hundred round drum he had a 30-round drum instead, he would have instead maybe killed 3 and injured 25 which is still a tragedy but not as bad. The big thing that needs to change in our US Gun laws is that no one should be able to have a drum attached to their gun that can hold over 30 rounds, also attachments like silencers are completely unnecessary and should also be banned. But we like being able to fire a hundred rounds without reloading some say. But here’s the question would you rather spend the extra minute reloading and save lives or save yourself a minute and lose lives.

Two, time you buy a gun a background check must take place, even in private dealings. People that are mentally ill should not be allowed to own guns and neither should former criminals or people dishonorably discharged from the military. Unless it is common knowledge who that person is the person selling the gun would have no idea if they fit into any of those categories if they are not required to do a background check. That is why background checks are absolutely necessary any time a gun is purchased even at private dealings. Some say any criminal who would be dangerous with a gun is mostly likely well known, but a criminal could come from say Montana and go down to Florida where it is unlikely that he would be well known. Also, the criminal could just change his or her appearance and if a background check is not required then you have a free criminal on the loose with a gun.

Lastly, I think that no gun at a private or public dealing should be sold to anyone under the age of 18. Currently, there is no federal regulation of the sale of long guns by unlicensed dealers to minors. That is an issue that needs to be fixed. Minors do not need to guns to protect themselves most of the time they are going to be around adults and are unlikely to be robbed or mugged because it is unusual for them to carry money. Now you could say minors under 18 can hunt and go to shooting ranges why can’t they buy a gun. At most shooting ranges it is a common requirement for minors under 18 to be supervised. If you’re hunting unsupervised you can’t shoot anyone because if you’re unsupervised there is no one around you.

So next President please change the gun laws it’s all up to you.

Sincerely,

Holden

Works Cited

Eichenwald, Kurt. "Americans Don't Have the Right to Bear Just Any Arms."Newsweek. Newsweek, 08 Apr. 2016. Web. 15 Sept. 2016.

Wikipedia. "Shooting Ranges in the United States." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.

"Sign Up for Updates." Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.