Stressing nonviolence

Why is this nation raising our young boys and men to be so angry, aggressive and violent?

Violent action figures and play guns at an early age, physical competitive sports where the harder you hit the opponent the better, violent video games and movies as teens, kids needing gangs as family, kids needing to bully to feel good about themselves, adults wanting more violence in team sports and video games and, last but not least, parents yelling, hitting each other and using weapons to make a statement.

People in this nation need to open their eyes to our young and embrace caring, sharing and love for each other and quit throwing violence at them. I focused on boys and men because the majority of violent acts are committed by them.

If keeping high-caliber weapons in a home to feel protected is a reason to have them, how many victims had time to use them for protection? Maybe we need to go back to black-powder muskets.

If we don’t start making a change now, sooner than later, I believe a higher power may make this change for us.

Sandra Hay

Lone Jack

Ban assault weapons

Keeping some guns to have a militia is the aim of the Second Amendment. In the threats of today, a non-automatic weapon or even a semi-automatic weapon with fewer than 10 bullets is sufficient for defense.

We have to draw the line at how many and how powerful the guns are in defense of our homes. A homeowner, a hunter or an average person doesn’t need an assault weapon for defense.

A true hunter doesn’t need an assault rifle to kill any animal. More guns aren’t the answer to stopping mass killings.

If people kill people, why let a surfeit of weapons allow those people to become mass murderers. It’s bad enough that Americans have become uncaring about guns in general. We dare not glorify any automatic weapon as a savior.

Assault rifles are meant for only one thing, to kill as many people as the shooter chooses. The Second Amendment was never designed to create such killers.

Please support the gun control bill proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. It would ban more than 100 assault weapons and ban ammunition clips that contain more than 10 rounds.

Jackye and Alan Goldberg

Overland Park

Republican distortion

The Dec. 27 letter crediting Republicans with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a distortion of history. The 1960s liberal Republicans wouldn’t survive the primary elections in the Republican Party today.

Southern Democrats have since found a home in the Republican Party. President Harry Truman started the process with his speech at the Democratic convention in 1948, emphasizing that civil rights belong to all Americans.

Many southern Democrats left the party. Truman then undertook his whistle-stop campaign without setting foot in a single southern state.

Truman narrowly defeated Thomas Dewey to win the presidency.

Sen. Lyndon Johnson introduced the Civil Rights Bill of 1957. It passed and was signed by President Dwight Eisenhower who pushed the civil rights act of 1960.

President John Kennedy on June 11, 1963, came out for a much stronger civil rights act, which included an end to discrimination in public accommodations. It was supported by both majority and minority leaders of the Senate and was passed after the assassination of President Kennedy.

The bill passed in the House with 152 Democrats and 138 Republicans in favor, and 45 Democrats and 27 Republicans in the Senate.

Albert de Zutter

Kansas City

Broaden horizons

There has been some great news recently in major private-sector investment in next-generation high-speed networks.

AT&T announced an additional $14 billion network investment that will bring high-speed Internet Protocol-based broadband connections to millions of rural consumers.

Plus, Google has been moving forward with its fiber infrastructure project in Kansas City and Kansas City, Kan. Private investment in our networks offers consumers better services and more options, especially in rural communities.

Consumers get more than fast connections when the private sector invests in broadband. According to former Kansan and FCC commissioner Ajit Pai, “Studies estimate that every $1 billion the private sector spends on fiber deployment will create between 15,000 and 20,000 new jobs.”

Kudos to Kansas City civic leaders and other stakeholders for recognizing the opportunity in the tech economy and supporting an environment in which companies want to invest. Consumers will benefit from expanded opportunities in rural education, health care and job creation.

When we encourage investment and innovation to flourish, there’s a promising horizon over Kansas City.

Jason Grill

Partnership for Technology

Innovation

Parkville

Republican obstructions

Following the election last month and confronted with an important legislative fix, the Republicans are digging in. Rather than bending to the will of the electorate, they are aggressively insisting on no new tax rates for the rich.

Haven’t we had the George W. Bush tax cuts for the last 11 years? Our economy should be roaring if trickle-down is right and Keynesian economics is wrong.

If you cannot compromise, stop.

Let the Democrats lead.

Michael Henry

Kansas City

God bless America

Concerning the proposed tax bills on the wealthy, which Congress will not pass, I am afraid that you have to look on the Internet if you want to see just how concentrated the wealth has become in this country. There is one website with a 2010 financial wealth distribution pie that shows 1 percent of Americans owned 42 percent of the wealth.

As a World War II veteran, I am afraid we stopped Adolf Hitler from doing to this country what the Congress is now going to get done. My forefathers came to this once great nation to escape this very condition.

God bless America. We need it.

Paul Smart

Kearney

Making the NRA happy

Let’s make the National Rifle Association and most conservatives happy by firing all the police officers and giving everybody a gun. This would reduce the size and the cost of the government and increase our freedom.

Hugh J. Taylor

Overland Park

GOP’s new dawn

Our dinner party turned into a political discussion with two old white guys really upset with President Barack Obama’s re-election. A sarcastic lady said, “Cry me a river.”

The discussion turned to anger about Congress not getting anything done, so the practical lady said, “Build a bridge.” The complaints continued so pragmatic lady said, “Get over it.”

Fellow Republicans, we need to listen to the ladies and quit crying rivers, start building bridges and get over it.

David G. McIntyre

Leawood

Nursing home neglect

This letter is for the three stepdaughters who left their deceased father’s wife at a nursing facility on 103rd Street. She is nearly 100 years old and a delightful human being, always happy and upbeat.

She shares a dining table with my mother, and even though I am there every day I have never had the opportunity to meet any of you. I have met the woman’s grandson, who visits regularly and seems to love his grandmother very much.

It is colder weather now, and I wanted to let you know your stepmother is still wearing summer nightgowns. I have never seen her dressed in clothes or even a warm robe.

I understand you have access to some of her assets, and I find it hard to believe her dead husband would want her left in a place with little company and no “extras” to make her life easier and without the compassion of people who care.

Your father took this woman as his wife, and I’m sure he never dreamed his own flesh and blood would neglect her.

Pamela Savage

Overland Park

Beware of coyotes

On a recent Saturday evening, we let our small dog outside in our well-lighted front yard. Within minutes we heard her anguished cry.

We rushed out to find her being dragged away by a coyote. Our screams startled the animal, and our dog broke free of its hold.

We rushed her to an emergency clinic, where she was treated for serious injuries that required surgery.

We urge pet owners to keep an eye out for coyotes. The animal that attacked our dog had to have been hunting close to the house, and our dog was easy prey.

We were very fortunate. Had we delayed our response by mere moments it would have been too late to save our pet.

Katherine Weinstein

Leawood