Dear Mr. Madigan,

 

I am a student attending Dixon High School. On May 17th, there was a mass shooting in our school. A former student, 19 years old, opened fire near the auditorium, where seniors gathered for graduation ceremony rehearsal. My best friend Angella happened to be one of them. Though no student got physically injured from the incident, she is suffering through a terrible trauma. I feel extremely miserable seeing her paralyzed on the hospital bed. Her face a mask of terror and anxiety.

 

I wrote this letter not just to show you the catastrophe gun can bring in our state, but to propose improvements on Illinois Gun Control. Our state’s suicide rate has increased about 23 percent from 1999 to 2016. In the same year, 799 victims were murdered by firearms. I know you suggested on raising the minimum age to purchase assault weapons in February. However, teenagers such as the shooter in my school were still able to acquire guns, when our state law has an age of 21. To me, the more important matter would be to assure students have a safer study environment.

 

The first solution can be to have armed security at schools. In many situations, shooters know that the people in school will have no way of defending themselves, and that is why they target them. We should keep armed professional guards (not teachers, or it may backfire and elicit more fear in students) at each school. The second solution is to have stricter gun laws. That is, to make sure no one can buy a gun without a training certificate in addition to background checks. No internet sales of guns or ammunition and not walking out with the gun the same day. Option three may be cutting down the violence in media. Why do we allow children and young adults to buy video games that put them in the position of being rewarded for shooting and killing other players? I believe preventing the abuse of weapons in media may reduce all kinds of violence. The fourth option may be the bolster young adult’s social skills and promoting the idea of caring for one another. A lot of school shooters were driven by sadness and anger of being bullied at school or not being treated fairly. Encouraging them to correctly embrace their negative emotions, and not hate on the world, maybe a passive way to reduce school shooting.

 

I’m very delighted to hear that you believe children’s voice needs to be heard: “Because it’s now clearer than ever that while it’s the politicians who are refusing to act, it’s our children who suffer the consequences.” I hope you put my solutions into consideration for your next vote on gun rights. Thank you for spending your time reading this letter.

 

Sincerely,

Michelle Kao