By Jenny Dawson
Special to CSMS Magazine
The article that follows is an open-letter to leaders of our society. It is a cry for safer gun control so that our youths will not have to be so vulnerable in venues like our schools where they were supposed to be safe.
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Dear elected officials,
No society can blossom without peace and security. For many years I thought I was living in the safest place on earth. But recent history of street violence has come to change my view. We need to take serious measures that would reinforce gun control laws soon before it’s too late. It’s a very sad thing when we get to see kids today are getting killed by a gun wound or they are the ones holding the gun. Nowadays it is very easy to give guns to people who are not licensed to carry them. If we were to become stricter on gun laws, there would be fewer massacres.
To begin with, despite the violence plaguing many of our communities in urban America, I thought the George Zimmerman trial would have changed the country. I was hoping this incident was going to be a great lesson on how we should look at gun control, but it is still the same. It is very sad. Every day, there are more people buying weapons without a gun license, and it needs to stop now. It could also get dangerous when it comes to adolescents and young adults having their hands on a weapon. That is why in my opinion guns should only belong to people who are licensed to carry them.
In addition to, we all remember the massacres at Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook Elementary School. If the government were to enforce the laws more rigorously, there would be less ways for people to buy guns. I also think that the US should take out all the gun shops across the country and we should buy guns only at a government place such as the police station and you should only use it for your self-protection. If we do not do something soon about gun control, this country will not be a safe place to live anymore.
Furthermore, I am not trying to say that we as citizens need to give up our right to self-protection, because according to statistics, there are many American households in which people have guns for their tenants’ personal protection. In my opinion, I think everybody that has a gun should be evaluated for any mental illness or any underlying medical history before using a weapon. Like the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, the gunman had a history of mental illness that was not properly diagnosed, and he bought the gun any way without a gun license.
Finally, we need to put an end to all the massacres and other forms of calamities caused by gun violence which I believe can be put to rest by harsh laws against carrying guns. This country could be one of the safest and nonviolent places if we were to take serious steps to protect our citizens more efficiently by controlling the guns on the streets of America.
Sincerely,
Jenny Dawson
Note: Jenny Dawson is a senior at Nease High School in Ponta Vedra, Florida. She wrote this peace exclusively for CSMS Magazine.
