Dear president, the second amendment states "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." There has been controversy for this amendment over the years, as pro and anti supporters fight over whether this law should stand or not. Though both sides have their ups, and downs guns are used mainly for detrimental activities. You as president should disallow the possession of guns in homes.

First, people try to argue that they have guns in their homes for “self defense”. This is not the typical case. The whole notion that “a good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy with a gun is a romanticized vision of the nature of violent crime.” It is plausible that a person can shoot and defend themselves from a threat, but exactly how many times is this actually the case? A Violence Policy center counted “259 justifiable gun-related homicides, or incidents in which authorities ruled that killings occurred in self-defense.” So 259 of these incidents were the “good guy stops the bad guy” scenario. Now here is the amount of crime in the united states. “There are 1.2 million violent crimes, defined as murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Or, put another way, 1.2 million scenarios in which there was potential for someone to kill in self-defense.” 259 of these were proven to actually be self defense. Now I know that not all of these crimes people have claimed they killed in self defense, but clearly the whole self defense thing doesn’t work out too well or else these 259 self defense homicides would have been a higher number. Self defense is just a way for someone to attempt to get out of a crime. When it is usually total crap, and the person is just trying to save themselves from jail time. I understand that guns would work a lot better than a kitchen knife to defend yourself against an armed robber but there is too many times where self defense is just not the case.

Next, People blame mental illness for the reason why mass shootings occur when mental illness takes up only “ 4% of all violence”. All violence not just mass shootings the other 96% is other factors . less than 1/2o of all violence is mental illness. So mental illness can not be considered the reason why shooters do what they do. By having guns it just makes it easier for people to carry out murders, and robberies, and many other crimes. A gun is a quick easy way to kill someone, or many people. If we can’t determine who is gonna carry out these crimes then the only solution is to not allow the possession of guns. Guns can be used for useful/non harmful things but the reality is they are not. They are a tool of war and allowing the possession of them, allows the wrong people to get the tool they need to carry out harmful activities. It is true that in some cases mentally ill people have killed, and that they can pose a threat with a gun. A survey taken by the American Psychological Association found that “crimes committed by people with serious mental disorders, only 7.5 percent were directly related to symptoms of mental illness”. So mental illness isn’t a huge cause of mass shootings.

Last, with a gun in the home too many harmful things can occur. Suicide, accidental fatalities, and just plain out crime. “Firearms are the leading method of suicide, accounting for half of all suicide deaths.” The reason is that guns are more lethal than other suicide methods. About 85 percent of suicide attempts with a gun are fatal, whereas only 2 percent of overdoses, the most widely used method in suicide attempts, end in death. If you shoot yourself in the head with a gun, and know where the gun has to be pointed to hit the brain then you automatically know how to commit suicide. With a gun it is way too easy to do this. If there were no guns in homes people wouldn’t be able to commit suicide as easy. 85% of these suicides with guns are fatal, this is just too much of a risk to take by allowing guns in homes. Also with a easy access to a gun(such as in your home) it is very easy to carry out crimes such as robberies. “Guns are used in 41% of robberies”. This is almost half the amount of robberies committed. Without a gun then the robber is much less threatening. If a person being robbed confronts the robber, I would think they would rather see a knife that a gun. Some of these robbers have guns available for them, and if guns are not allowed in homes then some of these robberies would be prevented.

In conclusion, guns in homes have too many negative affects to allow them to be kept in homes. These effects range from murder, to robberies, to everything in between. By not allowing guns in homes some of these problems can be prevented, and it would make a safer place for everyone to live.