Dear President,

    Guns are a problem for the United States.  Gun regulation is more realistic than banning guns. Guns are not America's only problem but it is an important problem. We are given the right to bear arms but I’m willing to change that right for my own safety.  No other country comes close to ours when speaking of firearms and the crimes committed using them. The problem isn't that we have more people and it isn’t because of violence being exposed to children. The reason Americans have a gun problem is how easy it is to get a gun. The right to bear arms doesn't force us to take safety tests or classes on how to store and handle guns properly.

    Between 2000 and 2014 America has had 133 mass shootings, second is Germany with 6. That’s a big difference. If you adjust for population size, America is still in the lead and that’s a gold metal we don't want, Finland is second with 2 shootings, but a much smaller population. Before 2011 mass shootings happened 6 months apart (mass shooting is 4 or more people) now we barely get through 2 months. This shows that America specifically has a gun problem, not meaning guns are the problem but people are, and people with guns are not always equipped to handle them.

Some people believe suicide is not relevant to America's gun problem but, 92 people die every day from a fire arm 30 are homicides, 58 are suicides, the rest are accident and police actions. We have the highest suicide rate overall and it’s with guns. Suicide attempts are usually in crisis, studies show that most people who attempt suicide, don’t die from suicide. With guns people don’t get that second chance. I should know, my uncle never got his second chance. The rate of gun suicides has been in increasing as homicides have been decreasing, compared to other countries it doesn't look good, we’d probably have a higher homicide rate without guns but currently guns make up for 86% of our homicides. Depression with a gun is more dangerous than depression without one.

Sadly the victim of these shootings aren't the ones you usually see, they’re most often black men. “You guys can go home and get on with your lives but we have to go home to empty rooms.”-Shundra Robinson (mother of Deno Wooldridge who was shot in chicago) These words should be etched in all of our minds and force us to question the world around us.

    Places like Norway,Canada, Germany, New Zealand , Ireland and Australia you need a license, Registration, given reason for purchase, safety training and safe storage. Guess what you need in America the right to bear arms, paper that is older than everyone alive today can get you a firearm. There should be more restrictions for example if someone is know for gang activity or depression maybe they can't purchase a gun.

    It's not that the US has more crime, actually we have fewer burglaries and assaults than other counties. It’s not that we have more crime it’s that our crime is more lethal. The number of gun deaths exceed those of AIDS, drugs, Iraq and Afghanistan wars and terrorism combined. Americans have more guns than any other country even when adjusted for population size. I want you to consider something, one takeaway from my paper. Why when we hear about a terrorist attack do we scream, cry and demand change when that isn’t even close to gun deaths in the US?