Dear Congressional Representatives,

My name is Claire. I am currently fifteen years old and in the ninth grade. Being in high school for the first year is a lot. More work to deal with, drama, more people; it's a lot to take in.  Staying on task will help me succeed. What should be my top focus right now is school, family, friends, not my own safety. 

Each day I enter school I fear it will be my last. I thought living in the United States meant we were free and safe. But it is anything but that. We are being forced to go to school each day when we can't even be guaranteed we will arrive at home that day. 

As of April 27, 2023, there have been 16 school shootings that resulted in injuries or deaths. In addition to that, there have been 163 mass shootings this year alone in just the United States! That's more than one shooting per day!

Terrified. That's how we feel. Scared to go outside, scared to enter the public. These weapons have changed our society for the worse.  Fortunately, our country is far more worried about banning more “important things'' than firearms; such as being focused on banning tiktok, books, voting rights, reproductive rights, health care, gay marriage, but not the things that are killing our youth! Firearms are more common and seen as “normal” yet people aren't aware of the consequences that follow guns. The number one leading cause of death for American children and teens is firearms. 

Nowhere is safe anymore. Schools are getting shot up, grocery stores are becoming graveyards. Teenagers are more likely to die by guns than anything else. It's higher than car crashes, suicide and drowning. According to studies by The Sandy Hook Promise, each day twelve children die from gun violence in America, with another 32 being shot or injured.

It's not just places in public, such as schools or stores, it's everywhere. Kids are getting shot for being in the wrong places. In just one week five kids were shot for simple mistakes. They were shot for things as small as ringing the wrong doorbell, pulling into the wrong driveway, or even rolling a basketball into the wrong yard. 

It is truly terrifying to be a student and a teenager in America now. There is no safe place. 

It pains me to say that the world we live in is unbelievably unsafe and unpredictable. I am just asking that you take a minute to reflect on the words I said, and please consider the safety of our next generation. Please just do something to help us.

Thank you

-Claire