3rd November 2016

Letter to the Next President

Dear, Future President:

I feel gun control should be enforced more than it already is, too many people have been killed because of these loose laws. There has already been 142 school shootings since the “Sandy Hook” elementary shooting. “There has been over 137 fatal school shootings since 1980 alone before Sandy Hook Elementary, killing over 297 people” (Bloomberg, adapted by Newsela, “Issue Overview: Guns in America.”) Guns have been connected to many types of terrorism, and killing the future of America, children that can grow up to become many things, it is in a way crippling us. Over 2,961 deaths have occurred by terrorists attacks since 9/11, in American soil. Guns can be helpful and protect us but they can also harm families, and by making these weapons so easy to obtain they also make people have the ability to take their own lives.

Guns have been linked to countless homicides, murders, and suicides. People have threatened each other with guns, and it causes mistakes to be made and people to get killed. “Over 85% of suicides happen to include a firearm” (Harvard Public Health.) A 27 year old widow named, Emily Frazier stated “There’s a gas station maybe a five-minute drive away from us, and the gas station sells guns. I didn’t realize places like that existed. Ryan just walked in and bought a handgun. We had gotten into an argument—which we hardly ever did—and he left. The next morning, the police knocked on my door. A construction crew had found him dead in his car at an abandoned railroad station.” Her husband had killed himself over an argument, which they very little have. “Ryan bought a gun at the gas station and didn’t even have to go through a background check” (Harvard Public Health.)

Places that sell guns should have more security and more of a way to set up background checks. People should be asked to show credentials as they buy a gun, and be checked for any past circumstances the exhibited any criminal/ suspicious behaviour. I feel that Gun vendors should be checked regularly and would have to renew their licenses multiple times a year to stay in business. The safety of the people, the nation, and the nation's future is of utmost importance when it comes to the threat of terrorism, and suicide. The soldiers put their lives on the line for us in the battlefield, so let's make sure they don’t come home to a smoking pile of rubble.

In conclusion, I feel that it is necessary to have gun control become a higher priority. It is important so that we can stop kids from worrying about what is going to happen at school tomorrow. It is also important that we become more strict with whom we are letting carry firearms, and buy these firearms. After all that America has been through we can overcome this problem. A nation that is damaged from the outside can rebuild, but one that is damaged by the inside can never be fixed.

Sincerely,

Andrew

Works Cited Page

Bennett, Matt. “Gun Control Can Prevent School Shootings.” Www.brookings.edu, Edited by Noah Berlatsky, Nov. 2013, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/viewpointsdetailspage/viewpointsdetailswindow?disablehighlighting=false&displaygroupname=viewpoints&currpage=&scanid=&query=&prodid=ovic&search_within_results=&p=ovic&mode=view&catid=&limiter=&display-query=&displaygroups=&contentmodules=&action=e&sortby=&documentid=gale|ej3010981211&windowstate=normal&activitytype=&failovertype=&commentary=&source=bookmark&u=cort85574&jsid=d157d516ee1ee7096e307b771cb23ddf.

Bloomberg, adapted by Newsela. “Issue Overview: Guns in America.” Newsela, Newsela, 0ADAD, newsela.com/articles/overview-guns-in-america/id/19143/.

Harvard Public Health. “Guns &Amp; Suicide.” Harvard Public Health Magazine, Harvard Colledge, 4 Oct. 2016, www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/guns-suicide/.

Verbruggen, Robert. “Fewer Guns, Less Homicide?” National Review, 21 Dec. 2015, p. n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher, sks.sirs.com.