Dear Mr. or Mrs. President,

       Congratulations on your election! There are multiple issues that you come across every day, but the one most important to me is gun control. I’ve brought this to your attention because gun violence is happening everywhere, including my community. Just two miles away from my home, there was a school shooting in Louisville, Kentucky. As a result of this shooting and many other gun related incidents in our schools, my school district, Jefferson County Public Schools, is considering installing metal detectors. I feel that since you have been elected, you can help prevent school, neighborhood, and other deadly shootings.

         When you address gun control, I would like you to consider the perspective of a little kindergartener walking into school and seeing this big apparatus in the hallway of the main office. How do you think they would feel? If I were them, I know I would be very scared. At the same time feeling safe, I would feel fearful and afraid. Although, the big metal detectors are made to keep people safe, if I walked into school and saw that, I do not think that it would make me feel very safe. It would make me feel like my school and my community are not very safe.

         I think you should put a law in place saying that every gun store, pawn shop, or wherever you can get a gun, has to have background checks. If you put these laws in place, they will prevent past criminals, suspected terrorists, and people with mental disturbances from legally purchasing guns. Along with background checks, ordinary citizens should not be allowed to have access to military assault weapons. Only the military should have access to military assault weapons. I believe these things will help keep our communities safer.

        Another simple solution is to add more after school activities and programs to keep kids off the streets. If kids are involved with after school activities and are around positive role models, that will keep them off the street and could possibly cause them to be a role model for others. Keeping kids off the street would bring down the number of deadly shootings that happen, as well as making them positive influences for other kids who were like them. If you add more programs like volunteer organizations and additional sporting activities,  these activities could help improve kids' discipline, responsibility, self-confidence, and self-esteem.  It could also improve kids' grades.

          As well as considering the perspective of a little kindergartener, in-order to resolve our gun problem, you need to put a law in place reading that every place you could possibly purchase a gun has background checks. Only military personnel should have access to military assault weapons. Last but not least, there needs to be more after school activities provided. Once again, I would like to congratulate you on your election!

                                                                         Best wishes,

                                                                                Jenna B.

                                                                    Louisville, Kentucky