Dear Next President,

I would like to tell you about one main issue that has been affecting and hurting our country dearly since the first US mass shooting in 1984. This issue that I am talking about is gun control. In the past 32 years, the rules to get a gun aren’t working based on all the mass shootings that have been happening. Therefore, I believe there should be stricter rules to legally earn a gun.

There aren’t many steps in order to get a gun. To get a gun you don’t need a license. I disagree with that because I believe that in order to get a gun, you should need a license. Next, you need to go through a background check. According to Chron, background checks usually take up to 3 days. Next the FBI checks you through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Also according to Chron, the FBI takes up to 30 days to check you. As you can see, with these steps, it would be pretty hard to get a gun illegally. But sadly, these steps aren’t working and they haven’t been since 1984. I believe that we should take a stand and do something about it.

I think there should be stricter rules to legally own a gun because people are afraid to leave their houses. They are afraid to go to the movies. They are even afraid to go to the grocery store. And parents are constantly afraid if there will be a mass shooting at their child’s school. If I were a parent, I would be scared because at a middle school in Utah a teenager was wounded after a shooting recently. There was also a gun shooting in Orlando at a gay club where 49 people were killed. As you can see, mass shootings happen everywhere. According to massshootingstracker.org, there have been 403 shooting just in 2016. Overall, I understand why many people would be scared to leave their house and go to a public place. Therefore, there should be stricter rules to get a gun so people aren’t afraid to leave their houses.

The second reason why there should stricter rules to legally get a gun is because according to New York Times, there is more than one mass shooting a day. Confirmed by gunviolencearchive.org, on October 15, 2016, in California 4 people were killed and 11 were injured. The day before that, there was a mass shooting in New Orleans where 3 people were killed and 2 were injured. And on October 1, 2016, 4 people were killed in Illinois.

Lastly, the reason why I think there should be stricter rules to legally own a gun is because people with criminal records still can obtain a gun. Stated by kelliandersonblog.com, there are two legal ways to get a gun. The first way is getting a gun from a gun dealer. If you are getting one from a gun dealer you have to go through a background check in order to get a gun. In the background check, questions are asked such as “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?”. Then the FBI has to check you. The other way, which is also considered legal, is getting a gun from a private seller. This is what people call a “loophole”. In this case, you do not have to go through a background check, and the FBI can’t check you. This is how criminals get their guns. According to CNN Money, gun laws are less strict in some places such as Chicago. Because of this, people with criminal records could go somewhere where the gun laws are less strict than where they live. I suggest that we make the laws to get a gun the same in each state. I also suggest that the second way to get a gun should be illegal because the there wouldn’t be much mass shootings.

As you can see, people get killed everyday because of guns. Rules in place, aren’t working, and we should improve them so then people do feel safe leaving their house and going to a public place. In conclusion, I believe there should be stricter gun rules so there are fewer mass shootings.

Sincerely,

Leela 7th grade student