‘Gun-free zones’ just magnet for shooters
The murder of school children and adults in Connecticut by a young psychopath and other shootings have led to a virtual feeding frenzy by the news media and shrill cries from the usual suspects for more “gun control.”
Gun grabbers insist the Second Amendment could not possibly include any firearm they consider to be an “assault rifle”. Misinformed people have fallen into the gun grabbers’ trap of demonizing “assault rifles.” Never mind that the gun grabbers also consider the handgun demonic; it must be banned, too.
Gun grabbers claim that strict gun laws reduce murder rates. Studies have shown that states and cities that have more legal gun ownership and less restrictive gun laws have a lower murder rate than those with fewer legally-owned guns and more restrictive gun laws.
There are several ways to protect students and faculty. One is to train the staff in protecting themselves and their students. This should include concealed carry training. Additionally, private security services could supply armed plain clothes personnel as an alternative or in addition to staff concealed carry practices. The widespread designation of schools as “gun free zones” should be quietly ended. Use of in-house and plain clothes security would serve as a deterrent to a would-be invader as he would not know who might be the source of his demise.
The liberal gun grabbers were the ones responsible for the “gun free zones” that have been a magnet for the crazies out there. They cry crocodile tears for the victims of their misguided efforts. Their real goal is to completely disarm law-abiding American gun owners and do away with the hated Second Amendment. The Second Amendment is not about hunting. Its primary purpose is to protect the American citizenry against tyrants; it also protects the right to be armed with comparable weapons.
Walter L. Adams
Trenton
Kinston’s sidewalks hazardous to health
On the morning of Jan. 1, 2013, I was out running (as is my norm) and I tripped over a crack in the gutter. This happens to me on occasion. I was airborne for a moment, as I was running at a pretty good pace. I slid across the pavement, scraping my face, wrist, and knee. I would have scraped my hand but my iPod saved me. My hand was the first contact with the ground.
A nice concerned citizen stopped and backed up their vehicle to make sure I was alright. To you I say thank you for your kindness.
I write this today to bring further attention to the disrepair of our roads and sidewalks (well very few sidewalks that we have here in Kinston.) There was or is a Pedestrian Task Force that I was involved with a few years back to address this problem. Although some progress has been made (small stretch of road from CSS Neuse II to Reynolds Seafood on Herritage) more needs to be done.
More and more citizens are realizing the importance of physical fitness. As a personal trainer and fitness instructor, I encourage my participants to be more mobile. Walking is an excellent form of exercise. Now I must tell them to be mindful of the sidewalk and gutter hazards, as well as cracks and raised areas in the streets of Kinston. Walkers and running want to go out healthy and arrive back home in the same shape (unhurt or harmed). We want to reap the benefits of physical activity. There are very scenic routes we travel and walking/running is a great way to explore our community.
I just ask the City of Kinston that there is work to be done on these streets to make them safe for everyone. As a lifelong resident of Lenoir County and a taxpayer, I’d just like a response as to if or when this issue will be addressed. There is a need for more sidewalks; even bicycle lanes would be a great idea. I have running team friends in surrounding towns and cities that go to each other’s towns and run/race and I hesitate to invite them. The last time we ran together, one of my team members twisted her ankle — tripped on a raised sidewalk (due to a root). The hazard is still there after four years. I enjoy the fact we have the Kinston 8000 race. It brings runners from al over and it’s a well put-on event. I just wish we could use some funds to make roadways more exercise friendly.
I also would like to thank the Lenoir County Sheriff Department and Police Department for always being a welcome presence on our city streets. Lets all share the road. Be active and healthy.
Angelia Craft
Kinston
Washington has hard time sticking to facts
Facts and politics do not mix in our current culture of media and Washington. Here are three examples where facts and political reality conflict, at great cost.
Global warming — we must do something immediately to prevent devastation that will impact out kids’ future. Haven’t we heard this said many times since Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”? I cannot say human activity does not/has not contributed to “global warming” but the truth is much more compelling and should not be politicized.
About 14,000 years ago, what is now North Carolina was near the edge of an ice sheet over a mile thick that covered much of the northern hemisphere and we were near the end of the last of at least five ice sheets to affect this continent . This ice sheet created the Great Lakes among many other prominent features we take for granted. Because of the ice, the ocean level was so low that early humans walked from Asia to populate North and South America across the Bering Strait. Since that time, world temperatures have increased, and will continue to increase, until the Earth again falls into a cooling cycle and another time of glaciation. The last ice age started about 2 million years ago and we are currently in a lull between ice sheets. Jean Auel’s series “Clan of the Cave Bear” explores this last ice sheet in Europe. Human activity did not cause this!
Green Energy is the only way to avert global warming and break out of the dependence on Middle East oil. Sounds great! But data and politics clash again. As long as the actual cost of producing sustainable power exceeds or greatly exceeds the cost of alternative energy forms, it should be aggressively researched until we find a cost-effective way to produce renewable energy. When it can be produced, an entrepreneur will take that research and produce energy — not the government.
The Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre makes me cringe but this tragedy is being used by those in Washington and the media to initiate changes they readily admit “would not have prevented this mass murder.” If they believe this incident could not have been prevented, then why spend over $500 million to control guns? Why not look for the real problems instead of preying on emotions and playing politics with the memory of this and other mass murders?
It is too easy to add multiple layers of control and expense on the average law abiding citizen — the ones already obeying the law — while those who ignore the law, are left alone because Washington does not have the political backbone to tackle real problems. Case in point: the economy and budget.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” That’s very relevant today. Most politicians must subscribe to the old saying, “Do not confuse me with facts, my mind is made up.” while they scramble for re-election talking points by writing new, conflicting confusion onto existing law instead of enforcing existing law. Only we can change this!
Alan Harper
Kinston