Dear Next President

I am a student at West Albany High School and I believe that the gun control laws need some refinement. The current laws have got us this far now, and they need some help to keep up with this rapidly changing country. In the article “Should More Gun Control Laws be Enacted,” ProCon.org stated that in the states there are just about 88.8 guns per 100 people, or about 270,000,000 guns, which is the highest total and per capita in the world. If you think taking everyone's guns away is going to work, go ahead and try. Now that that's out of the way, one huge problem is all the anti-gun people in this country that believe that guns are the start of all the violence in this country.

One huge thing that definitely won't help is making more and more laws because if people are already breaking the laws we have now, how will more help? By making more laws you're punishing the ones who follow the laws already and not affecting the ones who are breaking them as of now. People say we need stricter gun laws. I disagree; the problem is all the people not even thinking about the laws. Let me give you an example; if some guy buys a gun illegally, then uses it to shoot and kill five people, how many people did the gun kill? None. It was the man behind the gun; the gun was just the tool of choice.

Gun laws in America today are good but need improvement, including more specific background checks depending on what gun is being purchased. No matter what firearm is being bought, the background checks should be done over all aspects of purchasers, such as their mental health, criminal background, place of employment, how many and age of children if they have any, prior firearm purchases, what firearms they have at the moment of purchase, and if they’re permitted. Such deep background checks will result in fewer guns sold to people who have mental health issues. That still isn't affecting the people who buys guns illegally, but it's making a solid base for the people who are willing to follow the laws.

In this day and age people think fewer guns will solve the problem and in some aspects, yes, they are correct. It is going to be very, very hard to stop people from getting illegal firearms, so all the anti-gun citizens need to either man up and see the facts or leave the States if they can't deal with it. We citizens of America need more people with handguns to protect themselves or others that are already following the laws and will continue to do so. If there are more people carrying handguns for self defense, people who want to use guns for illegal activities will think twice. It will be less likely for people to go shoot up a school or a store if they know someone will have a firearm. People will no longer be afraid to defend themselves and others.

Gun control is going to be a very hard subject to act on without making people mad. However, you can't be scared to put your neck on the line to fix this huge controversy in America for now and years to come. The fact is there are going to be people angry with anything you change about the gun policies, but if it's for the better most people will be happy with your decisions. In your years in office you need to at least start to fix the problem and for the better. You need to try to get the people of America to see the real problem, not the fake problems they are making up in their heads because they are afraid of the truth.

Sincerely,

Trevor S.