If I Was President

Emily W Yang, Winner
5th Grade
Fremont

Dinner conversations always lead to politics somehow in our family. Although my father speaks in Chinese about current events, his intelligence subtly worries about the well-being of my brother and me. That day, my dad comments about Adam Lanza’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting incident. With a mouthful of rice, he mumbles in mandarin,

“Something must be done about mental illness.”

This simple statement resonates with me. Many comments that my father had made in the past mold me to who I am today. Any bits and comments about what is right from wrong, I’ve learned from the conversations on our dinner table.

If I have the honor of becoming Madame President of the United States, I will bring the close knit family values from my dinner table to America. I will have team members to go out into America, find out what issues we face on a monthly basis, and bring solutions from every crevice of our community meetings about the challenges we face in our households. These voices will then be presented to our legislative tables to hash out and solve as a family of Americans. We will unite and stand as one.

As a family, the Constitution needs to be amended again. If the Constitution states that “Rights to bear arms” applies to all Americans, can the same laws be used today if one trigger could kill 20 people? The new Constitution should state, “Right to bear arms for military and officers only. One could only own a gun with a valid reason.” Just like one child cannot have a better piece of fish over another, we have to standardize our laws and be equal to all Americans.

Our next challenge is to make gun licensing for a reason. Americans can debate in our community meetings about why anyone needs a gun in the first place. There are other options like security systems in the household, or set up community watch that can replace guns. If the reason for owning a gun is allowed, the gun owner needs to go through difficult tests like mental illness in the family, any children in the house, or depression problems in order to get a gun license. This license needs to be renewed every year in the DMV.

The last suggestion is why not keep all the hunting guns in one place away from the house? We could keep the guns in a bank or near the hunting grounds for extra security. If anyone needs to go hunting, they could show their gun license and do their business. The goal is to put family’s protection first and kids away from guns. Violence leads to violence. Guns are not the solution.

If I become Madame President, my goal is to take a stand against gun violence with these values. I will also put my cultural skills on responsibility, respect, and integrity to great use. Stricter gun control is what America needs for the sake of our future.