Dear next President,

Does it bother you that innocent people are murdered each day with guns? According to the Gun Violence Archive, 10,458 people have died related to guns this year, in just the U.S alone. If that doesn’t sound like a lot to you then think about this; there's been about four times the amount of incidents that have involved guns and 21,715 injuries (just so far in 2016), and we are only in the ninth month of the year. Although I’ve been fortunate enough to never have to experience any situation involving guns or any weapons, I see it on the news almost every day. I hear about recent shootings, mass shootings, school shootings, neighborhood shootings, accidental shootings, suicide committed with guns, etc. I hear tragic stories about families losing their loved ones or people suffering from life-threatening injuries because they were shot at for no reason at all. They are just regular people like you and me, and most people probably blow it off and think “this will never happen to me” or “I can’t relate to this.” Sadly, lots of people have to go through this and it really bothers me. I’m not saying that we can completely prevent gun violence because obviously there will always be some crime in the world, but I have a few ideas on how we can reduce this serious issue.

One way to prevent more shootings is by expanding background checks. This could be effective because it restricts the freedom of previous criminals so they wouldn’t be able to harm anyone involving guns ever again. Also, increasing security in public facilities/places could be very helpful because it would make it more difficult for criminals to smuggle weapons into places. This would lessen the amount of public/parking lot shootings. There have been lots of cases of parking lot shootings such as a recent one at Carowinds reported by Abc11.com. The victim was a 14-year-old boy who was shot twice in the abdomen at the beginning of September of 2016. Anyways, we could increase security by having guards briefly check bags before people enter any public place, for example, the movies or the store, along with installing gun detectors located in entrances. Most importantly, we should create it to be a lot more difficult to obtain and manage a gun or allow fewer people to own guns. I believe we should make sure gun owners take lessons on a regular basis of how to use a gun properly. This could be very effective because it could greatly reduce a number of accidental shootings because fewer people can have possession of guns. As you can tell, gun violence is a very serious issue and I think the dangers of all kinds of guns should be stressed to everyone a lot more often.

I understand that some people might disagree with reducing a number of gun owners, especially in the U.S. They might support the fact that everyone should own a gun because they’re necessary for protection. Also, increasing security could be very costly and unaffordable because purchasing extra protection would most likely come from people’s taxes. In addition to that, increasing security could be time-consuming and make a simple errand more complicated than it has to be, along with increasing the time it takes to travel.

Despite the cost, isn’t saving a life more important than saving money? It’s always better to be “safe than sorry.” Wouldn’t it be great if we could diminish the 100,000 people in the U.S who die yearly as stated by The Brady Campaign? Innocent children can be affected by gun violence physically and emotionally, and exposure to gun violence stated by Future of our Children can significantly raise levels of anger, violence, and stress. For example, in December of 2012, there was a massive shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. 27 people were killed, 20 of them were very young students. This shooting affects everyone, the parents who lost their kids, the students who survived may be traumatized, the staff, the whole community. Witnesses of any sort of shooting can suffer from depression and fear. They have to live the rest of their lives always remembering that terrifying moment. Would you rather save the 89 people who are killed each day or let them die? Thank you for your time.

Sincerely, Evelyn

Work Cited

“Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting: What Happened?” CNN, Cable News Network, http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/12/us/sandy-hook-timeline/index.html.

@NBCNews. “Just the Facts: Gun Violence in America.” U.S. News, NBC News, 16 Jan. 2013, http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/16/16547690-just-the-facts-gun-violence-in-america?lite.

University, Princeton. “The Future of Children, Princeton - Brookings: Providing Research and Analysis to Promote Effective Policies and Programs for Children.” - The Future of Children -, http://www.futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=42&articleid=166§ionid=1068.

“Mission.” Gun Violence Archive, http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/.

“Graph of the Day: Perhaps Mass Shootings Aren’t Becoming More Common.” Washington Post, The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/12/17/graph-of-the-day-perhaps-mass-shootings-arent-becoming-more-common/. (Picture below)