Voter IDs vs. guns

It is harder to get a voter identification card than to buy a gun for one reason: Voting directly affects those making the rules.

Allan Tison

Kearney

Big government, guns

The recent death of a 4-year-old, inflicted by an unmanaged handgun as she played, is very sad (1-23, A4, “Shot kills 4-year-old girl”). Should the gun owner’s right to own a gun be revoked or should his right to be a parent be revoked?

Big-government progressives say that limiting the number of bullets in the gun or doing a background check on the gun purchaser would prevent such tragic events. Now a delusional Missouri legislator thinks that notifying a child’s school of the presence of guns in a child’s home would prevent gun assaults at schools.

Can you see that the politicians’ responses and solutions are hollow and patronage-sucking without logical analysis or reasonable consideration of formulating recommendations that have the slightest chance of decreasing gun injuries and fatalities?

Not all people are reasonable candidates for gun ownership as not all people are reasonable candidates for parenting. Progressive big government has all the answers, so why should I worry?

Marvin Kramer

Overland Park

School bus hero

That school bus driver who would not allow a stranger to board her bus should get a medal, a bonus and a pay increase to encourage her to stay on the job (1-24, A4, “Gunman shoots at south KC school bus”).

Who knows what damage that “very small caliber handgun” might have caused if the nutcase, would-be passenger had opened fire on students from inside instead of outside the bus?

You think most handguns are kept safely at home by responsible citizens?

Barbara Loots

Kansas City

Preserve KC building

Shirley Helzberg has unselfishly used her fortune toward the revitalization of downtown Kansas City for the benefit of local residents and visiting tourists (1-23, A7, “Preservationist plans a tear-down”).

She is a treasured community leader and philanthropist. Demolishing the Orion Pictures Building for a parking garage because “people don’t want to walk a couple of blocks” sounds out of character for her.

What makes so many cities and older neighborhoods special and attractive? Walkability. Walking gives you time to admire the architecture, peer into storefronts and nod and smile at outdoor restaurant diners. This type of atmosphere gives a city it’s unique appeal.

Walking a couple of extra blocks to reach your destination, in an urban environment, encourages interaction and appreciation of your surroundings, promotes conversation and gives the area a true sense of place. And if the public walked a few extra blocks each day, we’d have fewer folks with weight issues.

I hope Ms. Helzberg will reconsider and work more closely with the Crossroads Community Association to find possible alternatives for the proposed garage, at least saving the attractive art deco front for walkers to admire.

Mary Hutchison

Kansas City

Gun violence shield

“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” says the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

In 1776, the militias, including the bulk of the forces that won our independence from England, were supplied with weapons by the militiamen from their own homes. In other words, the militias had no arms except those that were owned privately.

Under such circumstances, it would have been foolhardy for the Constitution to allow the infringement of citizens’ right to “keep and bear arms.”

Flash forward to 2013.

State and national guards (our militias) are well-stocked with arms. Soldiers don’t supply their own guns.

The Second Amendment in its original form no longer has a logical context. What has kept it in force is judicial interpretation that has adjusted the original meaning.

We have given the Supreme Court the right to make such adjustments. Unless we have a sea change in the political leanings of the Supreme Court, the National Rifle Association has little to fear.

But we should do what we can (unfortunately, not a lot) to protect ourselves from gun violence.

Jeff Glauner

Platte Woods

No guns in schools

Please, no guns in our schools. My son-in-law whose career is in corrections tells me that guns are not allowed in jails, even by corrections officers, because inmates will find ways to take them and use them against corrections officials or other inmates.

Is it not likely that would also happen in schools, especially if all teachers carried guns? I certainly have had teachers I would not want anywhere near a gun. Teachers could easily be distracted or overpowered and have the gun taken and used against them or other students.

Corrections officers emphasize containment gates, and they use batons, mace or pepper spray, not more guns.

Recently news media reported on a kid beating up an assistant principal in the Kansas City Public Schools. I am certainly glad that kid did not have access to a gun.

In this violent world where drug use is rampant, we need fewer guns, not more. Prevention is always a better option. Ban assault weapons, and keep all guns out of schools.

Don Breckon

Parkville

Fixing U.S. Congress

A board of directors is fundamental to every successful business worldwide. The very existence of the Simpson-Bowles Commission, and the many others, stands as a confession and proof that Congress is incapable of fiscal responsibility.

It needs a standing, bipartisan board of directors that is chartered to facilitate fiscal policies that are in the best interest of our country, rather than catering to the wants of political constituents. The European Union is searching for such a board today.

The Chinese have one. Where might the members of such a board come from? From the patriots within our own elected Congress.

Who might write its charter? Simpson-Bowles might be a good place to start.

Donald Greife

Lee’s Summit

Wild-card Republicans

I reread Time magazine’s Person of the Year article on President Barack Obama. It appears the only reason Obama received this honor was because he won re-election.

I’m an older, white Republican male. It appears I was the reason a lot of people voted for Obama.

Women were told I wanted to control their reproductive rights. Poor people were told I wanted to give more money to the rich.

African-Americans were told I wanted to put them back in chains. Gays were told I wanted them back in the closet.

I guess I wanted to deport all Latinos, even if they were legal.

As you can surmise, I never said any of these things, believe these accusations or heard a mainstream Republican say them.

Unless you take the comments of a few wild-card Republicans, I can’t make a connection between these accusations and what mainstream Republicans want.

My candidate was called a felon and accused of murdering a woman. This could make me bitter, but I don’t believe it makes me want to hate.

I was unaware that I hated all these groups, and I would like someone to tell me why I do.

William Gray

Overland Park

Meatless Mondays

Imagine you’re stuck in a metal cage. You can’t turn around because the cage isn’t wide enough.

The floor is cold and concrete. Ammonia fills the air.

It sounds as if it could be the latest horror movie, right? Unfortunately, this is the reality for millions of breeding pigs in America.

Sadly, other farm animals, such as chickens, turkeys and cows face similar unimaginable suffering in our nation’s factory farms. But we can change this by simply eating less meat.

If every American went meat-free one day a week by participating in the Meatless Monday movement, more than 1.4 billion fewer animals would live in these conditions. And this is something we can all easily do.

I hope people will join me and millions of other Americans in making 2013 the year of Meatless Mondays.

Kelsey Brennaman

Shawnee

GOP supply-side folly

If people have not figured out yet — that lowering taxes on the wealthy does not create jobs — it is their own fault. President Ronald Reagan cut taxes for the wealthy. Unemployment peaked at 10.8 percent.

When Reagan turned around and raised taxes, money went into circulation and people went back to work. President George W. Bush cut taxes and threw us into a major recession.

Instead of studying the facts, the right wing wants to penalize the folks who collect Social Security and Medicare and wants to raise the retirement age for Social Security. If you work at construction, you’re lucky to make it to 62.

Albert Henry

North Kansas City