Dear Future President,

Whether or not we need gun control is one of the most pressing issues of our time. The country is basically at war with itself over whether or not we need stronger, the same, or even weaker laws relating to guns. However, I believe that we don't need more laws that diminish the number of guns, just laws to help keep them in the hands of law abiding citizens. But first let me say something. There are around 300 million guns in the United States, and more rounds of ammunition than we can count; if there was a gun problem in America, you’d know it.

Advocates of gun control portray guns as tools made to destroy life, and often over hype certain features of weapons to make them seem dangerous. But, when used responsibly, guns can be used for recreation aside from a tool and a way to protect yourself if the need arises. Guns are not made or used strictly for the purpose of causing death and destruction. Instead of laws preventing the ability to exercise our second amendment rights, a more productive measure would be to educate people on gun safety and upgrade the vetting processes we use to find criminals trying to purchase guns.

To understand the problem pf gun violence, it is necessary to break it down to see what the real issues are. According to the CDC and FBI, there are approximately 30,000 to 35,000 deaths by gun each year. However, these numbers are deceiving. When most people think of gun violence, they think of homicides, yet two thirds of all gun deaths each year are suicides. Banning guns won’t help that, people will still find ways to commit self-harm if they feel that is what life has come to. Of the remaining 10,000 or so deaths, around 700 are accidental leaving still around 9,000 to 10,000 deaths by homicide. Almost 80% of those homicides are gang related and in cities where there are high amounts of gun control. That shows two things. One, gun control clearly hasn’t worked that well on the city scale, an example being Chicago. Two, the gang is more of an issue than the gun. Instead of gun control, gang control would be more effective and would benefit the country more than just taking away guns. That leaves the 20% of murders that are harder to stop. These will still be committed even if guns are taken away. Knives, hands, vehicles and bombs are just as deadly as guns.

Lastly, using common sense, you can realize that taking guns from law abiding citizens will not help anything. In fact, it just might make the problem worse. Criminals will not give up their guns, they are criminals after all. Criminals don’t obey the laws like regular people and will still use guns to try to harm the innocent, gun laws or not. But taking away the guns of law abiding citizens just leaves them defenseless. Some may argue that you could just call the police, however, the police are not here to protect you as you may think, and the police most likely will not be there in time to subdue an attacker, thief, etc.

I hope you look at this information and realize that taking away our guns, our right, is not the way to solve problems. It's the people, not the machine. The US tried something similar with prohibition, but we all know how much of a success that was. What makes you think taking away our guns will be any more successful. Leaving our guns alone and instead using education and community bonding will make the United States of America a better place.

Sincerely,

Matthew B.