Student advocates action from the White House on mass shootings

   The President

        The White House

            1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

                  Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President Donald Trump,

I am very concerned about all the mass shootings we have been having recently, many of which are happening in schools where many innocent children are being killed. I know that you are also, like all feeling human beings, upset by these atrocities, and you and I are united in our desire to find a solution that will end these mass shootings.


I believe stricter gun laws would help lessen America’s gun violence. I think you can work with Congress to get reasonable gun control laws passed to reduce the mass shootings. In addition to gun control, there are other things that can be done with less political difficulty, and I hope you will advocate for Congress to send you laws that will do these other things, or find a way to use your powers as head of the Executive Branch to encourage other preventive measures.


 Studies have shown that the gun homicide rate is much higher in the United States than in other developed countries. For example, the rate is “six times the gun homicide rate of Canada, more than seven times that of Sweden, and nearly sixteen times that of Germany” (Lopez, 2018). This correlates with the fact that the United States also has the largest amount of privately owned guns. CNN states “The US makes up less than 5% of the world’s population, but holds 31% of global mass shooters. After controlling for variables such as socioeconomic factors and other crime, places with more guns have more gun deaths” (Lopez, 2018). 

This shows that gun deaths in America are highly over represented. Since America only accounts for 5% of the world's population, it should only represent 5% of the world's gun violence. Since this is not the case; however, we know that something is very wrong here. I know that the Second Amendment gives us the right to possess firearms. I know that we cannot change this right, but I believe that something needs to change in order to significantly lessen the number of mass shootings and resulting tragic deaths we have been suffering from in our country. In the first 52 days of 2018, America has already experienced 34 mass shootings (Jeffery, 2018). 

Please Mr. President Trump, instead of blaming these on the mental health of the shooters, we should focus instead on the item that is making these mass murders so easy to accomplish. I believe we should focus on having stricter gun laws in America. This will not only save lives, but will also ensure that fewer people develop trauma-related mental illnesses resulting from these shootings. A 2016 meta-analysis of “130 studies in 10 countries found that new legal restrictions on owning and purchasing guns tended to be followed by a drop in gun violence — a strong indicator that restricting access to firearms can save lives” (Lopez, 2018). America’s rate of death by firearm is increasing at an accelerated pace. If the United States changes the gun laws to be more like Australia’s, we can expect to see this number go down dramatically. In Australia, the “firearm homicide rate dropped by about 42 percent in the seven years after the law passed, and its firearm suicide rate fell by 57 percent” (Lopez, 2018). To accomplish this feat, Australia banned many guns and bought the privately owned, now banned, guns back from their owners. Another idea would be to require gun purchasers to receive a license or permit before they can acquire any kind of gun. After Connecticut incorporated this law, there was a 40% drop in gun related homicides and a 15% drop in suicides as well (Lopez, 2018). The evidence from Australia, Connecticut, and the scientific literature is conclusive; some forms of gun control and restrict gun access can reduce some types of gun-related violence.  Yes, gun control alone will not solve the problem, and we will still have persons who are murderous and dangerous, but no solution is perfect, and saying that an improvement like sensible gun control must be rejected because it only partly—rather than completely—solves a problem would be an act of political cowardice.  And you are no coward!

I believe stricter gun laws would help lessen America’s gun violence. Yet, gun gun control is not the only policy to pursue. I also believe that we need stronger preventative protection to help stop mass shootings from being carried out. More metal detectors in places like schools, clubs, concert venues, and anywhere that would have a large crowd, would ensure that weapons do not make it into the area. Maybe the Federal Government could use grants or policy incentives to help local police or states to supply these metal detectors. There should also be trained police on site that are ready to handle these situations, so any Department of Justice policies that improve police training and professional behavior would be welcome. Another idea, especially in schools, would be door stops that would prevent the shooter from getting into the classrooms all together. Can the Federal Government supply the modest grants that would help schools install these door stops?  Lastly, there needs to be a way, at least in schools, that can help target potential culprits and ensure that they get the help they need. In most cases, a troubled student will often have a turbulent history before committing a crime like this. Schools already provide free counseling to students having any kind of issues; we just need to ensure that those who need help actually get it before it’s too late. Maybe in next year’s federal budget we could direct more resources to these sorts of mental health interventions in schools to help out troubled youngsters before they become dangerous homicidal maniacs. 

Sincerely,

[Student in SWK-355 Policy and Services course]

References

Beauchamp, Z. (2017, November 6). A huge international study of gun control finds strong evidence that it actually works. Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://www.vox.com/2016/2/29/11120184/gun-control-study-international-evidence

Jeffrey, C. (2018, February 21). Mass shootings in the U.S.: When, where they have occurred in 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://www.abc15.com/news/data/mass-shootings-in-the-us-when-where-they-have-occurred-in-2018

Lopez, G. (2018, February 21). I've covered gun violence for years. The solutions aren't a big mystery. Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://www.vox.com/policy-and politics/2018/2/21/17028930/gun-violence-us-statistics-charts

Santaella-Tenorio, Julian; Magdalena Cerdá; Andrés Villaveces; & Sandro Galea. (2016).  What Do We Know About the Association Between Firearm Legislation and Firearm-Related Injuries?, Epidemiologic Reviews, Volume 38, Issue 1, 1 January 2016, Pages 140–157, https://doi.org/10.1093/epirev/mxv012.  Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://academic.oup.com/epirev/article/38/1/140/2754868

Here are some points I have in response to this letter:

1) Think of your audience.  Do you really want to cite something from CNN with this guy? Better to not give the source than to admit that the source is coming from a persons or institution this President hates.

2) You have assembled a good range of facts.  In an academic paper, more could have been presented, but the advocacy letter must be brief, so you had to be selective, and I think your instincts led you to pick some of the strongest facts from that German Lopez article.  The four articles you reference are all good.

3) The emphasis is on mass shootings, and of course mass shootings do grab everyone's attention, including the president's attention, so this is understandable.  The general problem of the violence in our American culture is a bigger issue, and as I think we demonstrated in class, the deaths caused by the daily violence of gun homicides and suicides is orders of magnitude more destructive of human life than the mass shootings.  I appreciate that your evidence showed how your policy suggestions might address the wider and larger problem.  There may be some good sense in approaching President Trump, because of his personal style and worldview, with policies set in a context of ending mass shootings, when the ultimate objective may be reduce the tens of thousands of deaths by gun homicide and suicide.

4) On this particular issue of gun control, there are powerful political realities that the letter might have recognized and addressed.  This president likes to appear as a tough guy, and also as someone who is independent of others, so maybe a mention of the vociferous National Rifle Association and its members and what the President might do regarding that group would be useful. You begin to recognize this when you admit that we have a Second Amendment, but you might have gone further in adding a paragraph about the Second Amendment, the rights of Americans to have guns, and how those facts might be reconciled with the need for the sort of gun control you are asking the President to support. Perhaps suggesting that weak politicians are afraid of the NRA, and the NRA may have noble ultimate objectives, but it is fighting for those good ultimate aims by badly opposing many worthwhile policies, and only a strong and brave Republican President would be in a position to help liberate his political party from the wayward misdirection of those NRA advocates.