Dear Mr. or Mrs. President,

My name is Jenny, and I am an 8th grader in Ohio. An issue in this country that needs to be resolved as quickly as possible is gun violence. Gun control would be the best thing for the United States of America. According to “Five Thirty Eight”, each year there are more than 30,000 deaths by firearms. Each day there are at least 30 people are shot and murdered. One third of those people are under the age of 18. For people ages 15-24 guns are second leading cause of death. For the kids in that age group who are African American, guns are the primary cause of death. The United States has the most gun homicides on average annually than any other country. It is not okay that this is happening, and we cannot sit back, doing nothing, and watch 30,000 of our citizens get killed each year. There needs to be peace and an end to gun violence.

This violence has to stop, and regular people protesting are not going to stop it. People are dying because there are no laws stopping it. You need to tell all of your supporters to get involved in stopping these killings. Obviously you cannot absolutely remove guns. Although personally I do not support the Second Amendment, it would not be fair to completely get rid of it. The United States is a free country, and our rights should never be taken away. People should have the right to bear arms, but it should not be such a simple process. I think that there needs to be more background checks and a lot more security. Criminals and murderers have such easy access to guns. How are we letting these people get to these deadly weapons so easily? There is absolutely no reason that criminals should get ahold of guns, but according to Phillip Cook from NewsWeek with the lack of background checks nearly 80% of criminals own or have access to a gun. Guns are weapons and cannot be put into the wrong hands.

Every time the topic of gun control comes up, people bring up that guns make us safer. This is absolutely wrong. The only thing that you need to protect yourself with a gun from is a gun. If the guns do not get into the wrong hands, you will not need one. With 80% of criminals with guns, it just doesn't make sense that guns are making us safer. Imagine going shopping or out to eat with someone you care about and having them get shot and killed or even you. This is a reality for some because the United States has not done enough to prevent these tragedies. Please use your leadership wisely and benefit all of America by changing the law about guns.

Sincerely,

Jenny