Letters to the Editor 06-02-1999
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Hypocrisy - Gun Control - Stolen Purse
Hypocrisy
Editor, Times-Union:"Better to be free in a society with risks than a safe slave in a dictatorship" (Charlie Reece). Thanks, Charlie. Wouldn't it be great if the media, in general, and the Washington hypocrites would hype truths such as that rather than the constant barrage of lies and hyperbole. Now, republicans and democrats are jumping on the bandwagon because they are afraid of the political backwash if they voice their consciences rather than what the latest poll portends.
One of the recent bills is to raise the legal age to own a handgun to 21. You want to watch hypocrisy in action? So many thousands have left the military because they can't stomach their Commander-in-chief that talk now is the draft will have to be re-instituted. After all, we can't fight a decent ground war in some European country without soldiers. I'd be willing to bet the draft age remains at eighteen. This will make your 18-year-old children and grandchildren old enough to die for a draft dodger's political war, but not old enough to buy a handgun. This means your government can dictate that an 18-, 19- or 20-year-old can use a government-issue gun to kill another person, but cannot use a personally owned handgun to hunt, target shoot or for self-defense.
I am appalled at the lengths this administration will go to divert attention from the internal rot in Washington. I'm absolutely astounded that the apathetic public merely shrugs shoulders and follows the Dow.
It has been said that society rises to abundance through the diligence of individuals and descends to bondage through the diligence of government. I believe Adam Smith takes credit for the following...
"Cyclical Rise and Fall of Nations"
Bondage to spiritual faith > Spiritual faith to courage > Courage to liberty > Liberty to abundance > Abundance to selfishness > Selfishness to apathy > Apathy to dependency > Dependency to bondage.
Greg Smith, North Webster
Gun Control
Editor, Times-Union:This is in response to Ms. Courtney Robertson's letter of 5/28.
Since I have been jumped in the past for ridiculing the opinions of others, I will attempt to state my opinion without my normal sarcasm. Don't know if it's going to fly but let's give it a shot.
Ms. Robertson, if the garage sale advertisement on shotguns horrified you, this letter will make you scream. You are apparently not from a hunting/shooting family or you would already be aware of this. In these families, Ms. Robertson, it is standard procedure for the children to be given .22 caliber rifles and/or shotguns for their birthdays and/or Christmas starting at around age 12. Now I do not know the true enrollment figures for Warsaw High School but I'll make a rounded-off guess of around 2,000 kids ranging in age from 15 to 18. The national average for firearms ownership is around 30 percent but in this area I would guess it runs closer to 50 percent. So what do these figures tell us? Well if we have 2,000 kids about 1,000 are boys and 50 percent of those (or around 500) already have some sort of firearm. I understand your concern, Ms. Robertson, but please don't consider all young people as potential mass murders. Children have possessed firearms in this country for as long as it has existed. It has only been in the last couple of years that these monsters have been appearing. Let's not punish everyone for the sins of a very few.
Another thing, Ms. Robertson. You seem to make the assumption that whoever it was that were selling these shotguns would sell them to anyone that walked in. Maybe you should give people credit for a little more common sense. As things are right now, I doubt many people would sell a firearm of any kind to anyone under 18.
And just one last thing... You made the statement that "everybody is fighting for tougher gun laws." Hardly true, Ms. Robertson. Many of us are fighting to roll back many of the laws now in effect. All gun laws do is impede the law abiding, as was proven in Colorado. The 17 or so gun laws those punks broke didn't even slow them down.
Harold Kitson, Warsaw
Stolen Purse
Editor, Times-Union:On Saturday afternoon I suffered a momentary lapse of good judgment and common sense, while someone else, at the exact same moment, suffered from a lack of morality and restraint. I was a fool who trusted my fellow human beings to not steal from me as I ran into a downtown establishment for a few moments. I trust no one now. Everyone is suspect in my eyes. What did you get for your trouble? A couple of dollars, some change, several credit cards that were cancelled within 30 minutes, a few rolls of film and some personal items. Absolutely nothing of value to you. I know you don't feel guilty for your actions. People like you don't have a conscience. I, on the other hand, am left with the headache, heartache and the depression I feel when I think of having to get a new license photo, go to the pawn shops to see if any of my belongings have been hocked, and the fact that the film had photos from Christmas and spring break that needed to be developed. On the off chance that someone out there finds a brown leather purse, please find a way to get back to me.Ê
Virginia M. Myers, Warsaw
via e-mail
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- Hypocrisy - Gun Control - Stolen Purse
Hypocrisy
Editor, Times-Union:"Better to be free in a society with risks than a safe slave in a dictatorship" (Charlie Reece). Thanks, Charlie. Wouldn't it be great if the media, in general, and the Washington hypocrites would hype truths such as that rather than the constant barrage of lies and hyperbole. Now, republicans and democrats are jumping on the bandwagon because they are afraid of the political backwash if they voice their consciences rather than what the latest poll portends.
One of the recent bills is to raise the legal age to own a handgun to 21. You want to watch hypocrisy in action? So many thousands have left the military because they can't stomach their Commander-in-chief that talk now is the draft will have to be re-instituted. After all, we can't fight a decent ground war in some European country without soldiers. I'd be willing to bet the draft age remains at eighteen. This will make your 18-year-old children and grandchildren old enough to die for a draft dodger's political war, but not old enough to buy a handgun. This means your government can dictate that an 18-, 19- or 20-year-old can use a government-issue gun to kill another person, but cannot use a personally owned handgun to hunt, target shoot or for self-defense.
I am appalled at the lengths this administration will go to divert attention from the internal rot in Washington. I'm absolutely astounded that the apathetic public merely shrugs shoulders and follows the Dow.
It has been said that society rises to abundance through the diligence of individuals and descends to bondage through the diligence of government. I believe Adam Smith takes credit for the following...
"Cyclical Rise and Fall of Nations"
Bondage to spiritual faith > Spiritual faith to courage > Courage to liberty > Liberty to abundance > Abundance to selfishness > Selfishness to apathy > Apathy to dependency > Dependency to bondage.
Greg Smith, North Webster
Gun Control
Editor, Times-Union:This is in response to Ms. Courtney Robertson's letter of 5/28.
Since I have been jumped in the past for ridiculing the opinions of others, I will attempt to state my opinion without my normal sarcasm. Don't know if it's going to fly but let's give it a shot.
Ms. Robertson, if the garage sale advertisement on shotguns horrified you, this letter will make you scream. You are apparently not from a hunting/shooting family or you would already be aware of this. In these families, Ms. Robertson, it is standard procedure for the children to be given .22 caliber rifles and/or shotguns for their birthdays and/or Christmas starting at around age 12. Now I do not know the true enrollment figures for Warsaw High School but I'll make a rounded-off guess of around 2,000 kids ranging in age from 15 to 18. The national average for firearms ownership is around 30 percent but in this area I would guess it runs closer to 50 percent. So what do these figures tell us? Well if we have 2,000 kids about 1,000 are boys and 50 percent of those (or around 500) already have some sort of firearm. I understand your concern, Ms. Robertson, but please don't consider all young people as potential mass murders. Children have possessed firearms in this country for as long as it has existed. It has only been in the last couple of years that these monsters have been appearing. Let's not punish everyone for the sins of a very few.
Another thing, Ms. Robertson. You seem to make the assumption that whoever it was that were selling these shotguns would sell them to anyone that walked in. Maybe you should give people credit for a little more common sense. As things are right now, I doubt many people would sell a firearm of any kind to anyone under 18.
And just one last thing... You made the statement that "everybody is fighting for tougher gun laws." Hardly true, Ms. Robertson. Many of us are fighting to roll back many of the laws now in effect. All gun laws do is impede the law abiding, as was proven in Colorado. The 17 or so gun laws those punks broke didn't even slow them down.
Harold Kitson, Warsaw
Stolen Purse
Editor, Times-Union:On Saturday afternoon I suffered a momentary lapse of good judgment and common sense, while someone else, at the exact same moment, suffered from a lack of morality and restraint. I was a fool who trusted my fellow human beings to not steal from me as I ran into a downtown establishment for a few moments. I trust no one now. Everyone is suspect in my eyes. What did you get for your trouble? A couple of dollars, some change, several credit cards that were cancelled within 30 minutes, a few rolls of film and some personal items. Absolutely nothing of value to you. I know you don't feel guilty for your actions. People like you don't have a conscience. I, on the other hand, am left with the headache, heartache and the depression I feel when I think of having to get a new license photo, go to the pawn shops to see if any of my belongings have been hocked, and the fact that the film had photos from Christmas and spring break that needed to be developed. On the off chance that someone out there finds a brown leather purse, please find a way to get back to me.Ê
Virginia M. Myers, Warsaw
via e-mail
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