I’m an eighth-grader and I feel unsafe with KC’s extreme amount of gun violence | Opinion

Never know

I am in eighth grade at a Kansas City school. I am writing today because I feel that gun violence is out of control. Recently, there was a mass shooting at a Chiefs event that more than a million people were at, including me and my family. As a Kansas City resident, I feel unsafe with the extreme amount of gun violence and the ability to buy a gun without a license.

Missouri has one of the highest gun-violence rates in America. The people of Missouri deserve a better and safer environment to live in. I’m not against the Second Amendment, but I believe that the ability to buy a gun and carry it concealed without a license is unnecessary. I also believe that you don’t need a machine gun to hunt.

Minors should not be able to carry guns. Conflict has changed with the number of guns available, because now instead of a fistfight, kids are getting in shoot-outs. Do we really need the Wild West all over again? With concealed weapons, you never know who is carrying a gun and who isn’t.

Our generation deserves better.

- Wesley Duff, Kansas City

Gun sense

I am a grandparent, a military veteran and a firearms owner. I am disgusted by our failure to stop the murder of our children by firearms that are often military grade. Parades, schools and churches have become slaughterhouses.

Here’s my simple, nonpartisan solution: Treat firearms exactly as we handle motor vehicles. This includes operator training, licensing, registration and insurance. If you want to buy a firearm, you should have to go through training, get licensed and registered, and buy insurance to cover any liabilities to yourself and others, accidental or deliberate. All would be at your cost.

We Americans understand these procedures. We go through them regularly for motor vehicles. Furthermore, some of the money from the above programs could be used to harden facilities. This process wouldn’t stop all gun violence, but it would help.

Some will claim this proposal is a violation of their rights. More important, it’s an affirmation of our children’s rights to safety.

I hope this makes sense to you. If so, please write to your elected officials at all levels to endorse this policy.

- Norman Greczyn, Leavenworth

Do the work

A beautiful day. A celebration. A tragedy.

We must:

• Be willing to admit mistakes were made.
• Be proactive. Form a blue-ribbon committee to seek answers. Fans must be included.
• Be open. Brainstorm. Consider all possible solutions. Search for facts. Decide on a plan.
• Be accepting of all viewpoints, even if we disagree.
• Be open to new safe and joyous ways to celebrate.
• Be willing to set better examples for young people.
• Be fans who follow safety guidelines.
• Be respectful of others.

We can do better, Kansas City.

- Richard Demarest, St. Joseph

Society’s failure

The shooting at the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory rally has been a source of grief for all of us, but I was surprised to see the idea expressed in this paper that “blaming society for the violence of these two kids doesn’t hold water.”

Luckily, regular opinion correspondent David Mastio was willing to change his tune “if new facts come out.” I don’t have any new facts, but I have some he could have known when he wrote his hot take: The unemployment rate of Black people is double that of White people in Missouri. Black Kansas Citians make up 26.2% of the population but have three or more times greater poverty rates than white non-Hispanic residents.

We redline, we white flight and we block school integration, then we pretend this has no long-term consequences? There is plenty society can do before we throw up our hands and blame long-disadvantaged members of minority groups for their lot in life.

- Erie French, Kansas City

Parking pain

Maybe I’m in the minority, but the best thing about Royals games for me is the parking. There’s nothing I love more than spending $20 on a parking pass so I can sit in traffic. It’s even better when the game is over and everyone is trying to leave. It’s so much fun to dodge cars while walking to mine.

Seriously though, parking is terrible. If the Royals are going to move downtown, then part of their plan should be to work with RideKC or private shuttle services to make it viable to take a bus to games. Even if it’s just a handful of park-and-ride locations around the area, that’s a lot better than what we go through now.

- Richard Pund, Overland Park

Not more taxes

I’m astounded at the misconceptions regarding the proposed stadium sales tax extension. I’ve heard concerns that this will cost Jackson County residents more than $1,000 a year. While that may or may not be accurate, what should be emphasized to voters is that this is not a new tax — it is a 40-year extension of an existing 3/8-cent sales tax that has been in force for many years. Jackson County shoppers will not pay any more than they do today. It is not a property tax or levy. It is a sales tax, applied only to purchases made in Jackson County.

Some business owners and residents in the area where the new stadium is proposed are rallying against this tax extension, citing higher rents. This same scenario played out when the Sprint Center (now T-Mobile Center) was planned. Businesses and residents were well compensated for their properties, and Kansas City got a shiny new downtown arena.

Another point to ponder: Should this tax extension not be approved, it is possible that the Royals would look elsewhere for their new stadium. Johnson County? Clay County? Or — gasp! — Oklahoma City?

- Tony Michaels, Kansas City

This story was originally published February 25, 2024 at 5:02 AM.