The front page of the Sun Journal on Feb. 22 had a lot to report: the death of the Rev. Billy Graham; the follow-up on the Parkland, Florida, massacre; a plan to save Mainers 10 cents on each bottle of wine or liquor … Wait, what? With apologies to the party animals, their woes are […]
gun violence
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Middle America must lead on guns
America desperately needed a new kind of citizen leader to force political change. She found it in the students, parents and teachers scarred by the massacre at a Parkland, Florida, high school. Watch how effective they’ve been at making the case for tighter gun laws. Watch how they’ve alarmed politicians under NRA control. Their power […]
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Posted inLetters, sj-web
Children are worth saving
The Parkland school shooting in Florida again raises the point that this nation has a problem that has not been solved, even after previous mass shootings. The nation’s children and grandchildren are at risk. The problem is that simple. Mental health problems and guns seem to be connected in the school and other mass shootings. […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Congress returns amid pressure to act on gun violence
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a 10-day break, members of Congress are returning to work under hefty pressure to respond to the outcry over gun violence. But no plan appears ready to take off despite a long list of proposals, including many from President Donald Trump. Republican leaders have kept quiet for days as Trump tossed […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
We need gun policy action now
In the wake of the latest mass shooting, I found myself in an unfortunately familiar place in which tears poured from a reservoir of pain and empathy for those whose lives were torn apart. But my sorrow quickly turned into anger and frustration over the back and forth debate on this topic that has divided […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
Representatives need ideas
If every student who plans to walk out of school for 17 minutes on March 14 would, instead, sit at their desks and write a letter to their congressional representatives, telling them exactly what they should do to stop gun violence in America, it would actually change things. It is not enough to march and […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
No reason to possess assault rifles
There is no reason for a private citizen to have an assault rifle. He can’t hunt with it; he can’t protect his home with it; and he can’t resist governmental oppression with it — the government has tanks, attack helicopters, stealth bombers, etc. The only hope with that is to keep the Armed Forces representative […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
I no longer feel safe here
As Bob Dylan wrote years ago, “How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.” Well, certainly the answer is not blowing into Congress. Only thoughts and prayers are, as they always are, after each one of the horrific shooting […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
Shootings could happen here
Gun safety laws don’t take rifles away from hunters. Gun safety laws could and should take semi-automatic killing machines away from people who want to kill people. No one who wants gun safety laws is suggesting bundling hunting rifles in with semi-automatic killing machines. The shootings that have happened in other states could well happen […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
New thinking about guns needed
Gun control has become a hot button issue, but it shouldn’t be. Virtually no one is advocating the abolition of all guns. That is not going to happen. People have the right to hunt and defend themselves. No one disputes that. We can have a conversation about concealed weapons in public. My opinion is law-abiding […]