Dear future President,

Imagine watching a family mourn a loss of a loved one due to a shooting that could’ve been prevented. Too many of these type of situations happen yearly. About 33,000 people die from gun violence each year. That means about 90 people die each day in the U.S. Each person killed is a person too many! This is one of the biggest issues in the U.S, because no other country in this world has the same type of gun violence as the U.S does. No sane person could commit these crimes and be able to live with themselves; making these crimes due to someone not stable minded. There should be stricter background checks so that these type of people cannot get access to these dangerous weapons.

Gun control affects EVERY American living in this country. These criminals are taking innocent lives away, tearing families apart. Due to the poor gun control laws, these criminals are able to kill innocent people. For example, there was a mass shooting in Orlando at a gay bar. The perpetrator was a man named Omar Mateen who was mentally unstable his ex wife had said. He had a hatred for gays, but was also very aggressive, as he constantly beat his wife up for nothing. He shouldn’t have access to guns, but because he did, he killed 49 people and wounded another 53 people. If we had background checks, these innocent people wouldn’t be dead right now. Another example of guns falling into the wrong hands is the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. A man named Adam Lanza walked into the school with 30 pounds of ammunition and guns. He then killed 20 innocent first graders, and then killed 6 adult staff members. He was known to be obsessed with mass shootings. He had doctors for his issues, and they prescribed him medicine, but he refused to take any of the medicine. He also shot his mom before he went to the elementary school. He later committed suicide. This could’ve been prevented if people selling guns would have done more of a background check, and not given him a gun for being mentally unstable. Gun control is an issue that affects everyone, and can ruin any normal citizen’s life in an instant.

Gun control would be solved if we had much stricter background checks. In states that already have a criminal background check for all guns sold, 46% fewer women are murdered by their partners. Men with that type of mindset don’t deserve to be near any type of weapon, much less a gun. California is the state with the strictest gun laws, and it’s working to decrease crime rates. California requires a background check with ALL gun sales, licensed or not. Gun violence in California dropped 56% from 1993 (5,500 deaths) to 2010 (2,935 deaths). Mentally unstable men cannot get their hands on guns in California with these mandatory background checks, making murder rates go down and down. As California gets stricter gun laws, the rates should go down more and more. States that also have laws for having a background check for each gun sold have seen a 48% decrease in the numbers of active duty cops shot. As cops go to chase criminals, there’s always a risk for them, as the criminal most likely has a weapon with them. These cops risk their lives to make sure our lives our safe, and stricter gun laws can make it probable the criminal they’re chasing doesn’t have a gun on them.

Gun control is a huge issue in the U.S. We have more gun problems than anyone else in the world. Americans are 25 more times likely to get killed by a gun in America than in any other country. To solve this issue in our country, we should have stricter background checks on ALL gun sales, private or not. This issue affects everyone in America. Someone mentally unstable could pull a gun out on us if he/she doesn’t like what we are doing, or if that person just wants to. If America has stricter background checks for all gun sales, more innocent lives can and will be saved, and less families will have to be torn apart. Every American’s lives could change drastically at the slightest of moments. I think as the future president, you should be the one to stop having to pray for these families, and instead take action and make it mandatory to have background checks for each gun sale, at a gun show or a private seller. 

Sincerely, 

Maulin S. (California)