Dear Future President,

Since you are our new President, I hope you will work hard in enforcing more gun control laws to protect the lives of the innocent. So many people, including children, have been killed from mass shootings in which the shooter purchased their high-quality military gun from a local gun shop. Background checks before a person buys a gun, and more laws to regulate the amount of legal guns will help save lives and make America a safer and more peaceful country.

On June 12 of this year, the worst mass shooting in the history of the U.S. was committed by Omar Mateen, who purchased his guns from a local firearms shop near his Florida hometown. The article “How the Orlando Killer Got His Guns” published by The Daily Beast authors Michael Daly and Shane Harris in June of 2016, described how Mateen had purchased a Sig Sauer .223 caliber assault rifle, “on June 4 and then a Glock 17 at the same store on June 5. Mateen returned to the store a third time on June 9 to purchase magazines for his weapons.” After purchasing those guns, Omar Mateen opened fired at a whole nightclub, killing 49 innocent people and severely injuring 53 others.

After reading the article, it is hard for me to believe that the gun shop let Mateen purchase those guns even when he was “listed on two federal watch lists”. If America had more gun control laws and did a better job of enforcing the laws already on the books then maybe those 49 people would still be alive and maybe we, as a country, wouldn’t feel ashamed when other countries hear that we let 49 innocent lives be taken by a man who bought his guns legally. Some Americans don’t want more gun control because the feeling of a gun in their laps is safety to their hearts. However, because of the increase in mass shootings, a gun in someone’s lap -- at least to me -- symbolizes death.

My strong belief for more gun control also is rooted in personal experience: This summer, on a beautiful summer day in the east side of St. Paul, Minnesota, I decided to go on a bike ride. There is a park about a half mile from my house, where family reunions or barbeques consisting of many children, usually take place. That’s what was occurring as I breezed by. When I came back from my bike ride, it was time for dinner. As my family sat down to eat, we heard what we hoped were fireworks. About 10-15 minutes later, we heard sirens after sirens after sirens from multiple police squad cars and paramedic vehicles. The next day, I learned on the news that one of the “fireworks” I had heard, was in fact the gunshot that killed 18 year-old Bobby Collins, who was shot in the back of his head. The coincidence of timing is what shocks me -- I might have seen Bobby as I looked over the park while biking by, but little did I know he would be dead merely 20-30 minutes later.

If anything, the lack of gun control laws and the excessive amounts of innocent lives lost because of these shootings, makes me feel very sad that our country can’t see the real problem at hand. When a non caucasian person is the shooter in a mass killing, the fact that the shooter is from another country is not what makes it a national problem. So, Dear Future President, you need to address the fact that everyone can shoot a gun. If it happens to be a latino or an african american that shoots it, you shouldn’t feel the need to protect our country by possibly building a wall between our country and the one that you feel threatened by, you should strengthen our gun laws to prevent anyone from killing the lives of innocents. You, as the Next President, need to help us save lives by not handing the gun to the murder. Help our country to get the political will to strengthen our gun laws to make America safer .

Sincerely

Grace Kaszuba

10th Grade

St. Paul, MN