Felipe Colorado

Enforcing Stricter Gun Control

Every year we hear about incidents with guns, such as shootings. We need more gun control.

Dear Future President,

Gun control is a big problem today in the USA than it ever was. Yearly we hear about school shootings, accidents, and mass shootings. These are problems, and we need to fix them.

Guns are tools, and just like any other tool, needs to be used appropriately. School shootings happen due to young people that feel bullied, depressed, or other reasons, and obtain a gun and commit the shootings. There should be a test that checks for signs of depressions or anything related that people have to pass to be able to get a gun. Guns should not be able to be bought at unauthorized locations. Gun control should be tighter in the U.S., especially to young people.

As it says in the Smart Gun Laws website, “From 2005-2010, almost 3,800 people in the U.S. died from unintentional shootings. Over 1,300 victims of unintentional shootings for the period 2005–2010 were under 25 years of age”. Every day we hear about people accidentally shooting themselves or others. Babies and young kids can find guns in their houses and use them, accidentally. “Toddlers have shot at least 23 people this year”, according to the Washington Post, “ a Milwaukee toddler fatally shot his mother after finding a handgun in the back seat of the car they were riding in” (Ingraham 1). Having stricter gun control can help minimize these fatal incidents.

In the first 164 days of this year, there has been 136 mass shootings in the U.S. alone, taking into account that a mass shooting is when four or more people get killed. That number is huge, and while guns aren’t entirely to fault, they do have a part in it. On December 9, 2015, as The Guardian says, “two gunmen killed one person and injured three others in Savannah, Georgia. In neither case is there any evidence that the killers obtained their guns illegally” (Chalabi 1). This shows the gunmen got their guns like any other person. Tighter gun control can prevent this and any future mass shootings.

Many people say background checks don’t work, are pointless, and take too much time. But this isn’t necessarily true. As the NPR website states, “ Two recent studies provide evidence that background checks can significantly curb gun violence. In one, researchers found that a 1995 Connecticut law requiring gun buyers to get permits (which themselves required background checks) was associated with a 40 percent decline in gun homicides and a 15 percent drop in suicides “ (Kurtzleben 1). Those are significant numbers, and I would hope to continue this.

In conclusion, I hope the next president, you, will enforce stricter gun control to prevent school shootings, accidents, and mass shootings in the future.