November 1, 2016

Dear Future President

1600 Pennslyvania Avenue Northwest

Washington DC, 20500

                                         Letter To The President

In the U.S., there are more deaths by guns than by aids, drugs, war and terrorism combined. Gun control is important to me because I am concerned about both my personal safety and the well-being of my community. I believe that there need to be stricter gun ownership laws to reduce the pervasive violence inflicted by guns. Gun violence affects not just victims of crime and suicide, but their families, friends, and society at large, however, guns are apart of our culture for hunting, sport, and protection.

I hope to make guns harder to obtain because of the high murder rate in the United States. In 2016, there have been 12,000 gun deaths, which is dramatically higher than any other country on earth, even when accounting for the population in the U.S.. Sadly, chances are that the U.S. will experience its 400th mass shooting of the year this week. Guns are used in about 70% of all homicides. By reducing the amount of guns in America we could greatly reduce the occurrence of homicides. Every statistic is a person: children are losing parents, and parents losing children, to gun violence. Especially for children, this culture of fear creates instability and mental health challenges that they then carry with them throughout their life.

I also believe that limiting access to guns would reduce the rate of gun deaths by suicide. Half of all suicides in the US are caused by guns, but the vast majority of people who survive a suicide attempt don’t end up dying from suicide. Reducing the availability of guns would drastically reduce the success rate of suicide. Instead of the finality of death, those at one point seeking to end their life have a greater chance of surviving and getting the mental health services they need to live healthy, productive lives. Although different than murder, suicide takes a large toll on the survivors. The financial cost, the devastation to family and friends, and the trend of copy-cat suicide attempts after a single suicide negatively impact thousands of people after one single death; by reducing suicides via harder access to firearms, we can greatly reduce the wide swath of destruction a suicide causes.

Efforts to restrict gun ownership have been met with stiff resistance. Guns have long played an important part in U.S. society, and limits on gun ownership are viewed by some as a threat to 2nd Amendment. Gun advocates contend that any efforts to limit gun ownership infringe on their ability to hunt and provide personal protection. Although this right is granted in the Constitution, how people interpret “the right to bear arms” varies widely. There are several options available to limit gun ownership that do not, in my opinion, conflict with the 2nd Amendment. Firearms today are vastly different than those available when the 2nd Amendment was drafted; if using the 2nd Amendment, the gun performance granted should match those of 1791.

Stopping guns is the first step to reducing the gun violence in the U.S.. Gun violence affects not only victims of mass shootings, but also victims of suicide. By not restricting guns, we are letting children grow up without their parents and tearing families apart. Another reason to increase gun control are suicide victims. Guns do not give a victim a chance of survival, they don’t give people a chance to live a healthy life later on. I strongly urge that we limit guns for everyone, no matter what kind of mental state or condition they are in. It is not ok to have thousands of deaths each year in our country.

Sincerely,

Bergen