Winston-Salem Journal LTE TH 01/31/13

We can do more

The election is over. The majority has spoken. We who voted for Mitt Romney have had time to grieve and now it’s time to face facts.

Unless something constructive is done, our beloved country is going to suffer. Our government must get tough. We can write to Congress members and demand that they work for the betterment of the country instead of giving in to the easy route.

But that is surely not all we can do. Those of us who believe in our Lord can pray. After all, he is still in control. He doesn’t answer prayer until it is asked for.

So, believers, go to your knees and pray for the restoration of America as a Christian nation.

America was founded on God’s word and based on his word has grown and prospered all these many years. We cannot afford to allow our leaders to drag this beloved country into bankruptcy.

HOLLIE TRIVETTE

North Wilkesboro

Ryan’s friends

Ryan Wood, the 16-year-old sophomore at West Forsyth High School, faced his battle of Burkitt lymphoma with his family, friends and classmates supporting him through showing their love, concerns and prayers (“ Family, friends lay student to rest,” Jan. 13).

Not to take any accolades due Ryan, I want to focus on the awesome position the teenagers took by generating a movement through social media that invited others to pray for him. They moved to the forefront and demonstrated that they are not ashamed of their Christian values. Also, his classmates were not afraid of being ridiculed by praying in school.

By their actions, they got the attention of adults here in Forsyth County and across the state and around the world. Scott Hamilton, a Journal reporter, stated in his article that the movement on behalf of Ryan gained the attention of well-known people like Chris Paul, a former student from West Forsyth High School, who is now a professional basketball player.

Often teenagers are viewed through negative lenses, but by the teenagers at West Forsyth uniting to hold prayer vigils and candlelight services, they taught the community a lesson: Teenagers do care; teenagers are courageous; teenagers have tremendous positive influence.

Ryan’s parents, grandparents and great-grandmother, Nell Scott, are missing him. We can show our admiration for Ryan by continuing to pray for the family and by praising his teenaged friends.

DORIS CONRAD

Winston-Salem

Finish the Thought

Saturday, we asked readers to complete the sentence: “Now that women can serve in ground combat roles in the military …”

“... you can truly tell your young daughters that they can be whatever they want to be if they put hearts and minds to it.”

BOON T. LEE

“… we will likely train our war horses, and tanks, too, to dance to the sound of flute music because people never learn.”

WENDELL SCHOLLANDER

“… there will be fewer and fewer women.”

CHARLES C. STOTT JR.

“… we have a true volunteer military. These brave young people have chosen to defend our country up to the ultimate sacrifice. Now let's do the same for them. I am not an advocate of big government, but we have a moral obligation to do the right thing.

“How can we have the need for a Wounded Warriors charity if the government was doing all it could? Why do we allow local vultures around bases to over charge and cheat our GIs, like that finance company in Fayetteville just pled guilty to? How can we allow our active duty people to be so poorly paid they qualify for food stamps?

“Until they are all home safe and sound, our representatives in D.C. need to get off their sorry butts and stop giving money to study fruit flies and endangered salamanders and take care of our troops.”

KEN HOGLUND

Piglets 1 week old

Winston-Salem Journal LTE WE 01/30/13

More AP courses

The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education recently turned down a grant to expand Advanced Placement programs at four county high schools (“School officials decline AP grant,” Jan. 23). The stated reason for declining the funds was to prevent new AP classes at home schools from adversely impacting enrollment in those courses at the career center.

According to Patrick Olsen, the principal at Reynolds High School, offering more AP courses there would increase overall AP enrollment, and it is reasonable to assume the other schools would reap the same benefit. But making AP classes more easily accessible to more students is apparently not a significant gain to the school board if the career center loses students. It appears justifying the existence of an expensive white elephant is more important than actually improving educational opportunities. After all, if the brand new career center became an underutilized waste of money, it could raise embarrassing comparisons to Atkins High School, less than three miles away.

A rational person might ask why increasing AP course offerings while saving the taxpayers money is a bad idea, or why the half-empty Atkins couldn't have been modified to fill the role of the career center. A skeptic might conclude that the school board is more concerned with building new classrooms, and the hundreds of millions of dollars that went to that purpose in the past decade, than with what goes on inside them.

JOHN R. FISHER

Winston-Salem

Common-sense options

The writer of the Jan 9 letter “Countering mistrust,” a self-described informed progressive, wanted to share some “life saving-facts.”

He wrote, “No one can do anything to, much less kill, a child that does not exist.”

Unborn babies are not non-existent. That defies logic. If they didn't exist there would be nothing to abort. Ask a woman who is pregnant if the child does not already exist.

He then goes on to speak of women dying because of “few if any” options but illegal abortion.

There are many inexpensive, common-sense birth-control options available, plus the option of carrying the child to term and giving it up for adoption.

The writer closed with the advice that abortion was preferable to condemning “unwanted children to poverty.” Really? Can he see into the future? There is a long list of successful people who escaped being killed in the womb and were give a chance to live, among them: President Gerald Ford, Jesse Jackson, Sen. Robert Byrd, George Washington Carver, and last but not least, Steve Jobs of Apple computer fame, to name a few.

As Ronald Reagan once said, "I notice all of the people who support abortion are already born."

By the way, his wife, Nancy, was adopted also.

MIKE WINDSOR

Clemmons

The right choice

The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education’s curriculum committee definitely made the right choice in deciding to turn down the AP STEM Access Program offered to schools in this county (“School officials decline AP grant,” Jan. 23). The program gives schools a chance to offer more science and math courses, while seeming to encourage minorities and females to sign up for these classes; a quest that is quite honorable in my opinion.

However, since our county has a Career Center that offers a plethora of Advanced Placement science and math classes, accepting the grant would not only be a waste of resources in our county, but would also hurt the Career Center by removing potential students, thus reducing the amount of math and science classes available. So as a student who takes AP classes at both my home school and a science class at the Career Center, I definitely believe that the Career Center should be protected at all costs.

Why, you may ask? Well, at the Career Center each individual has a plethora of classes to choose from. Students at the Career Center are not only able to take classes like AP Biology, but also take classes like AP Music Theory, and AP German. As a result, accepting the grant would be a huge loss to everybody at the Career Center.

Therefore, I am quite pleased that the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education has denied the AP STEM Program. It was a job well done.

ROSALIA ARNOLDA

Winston-Salem

Women In combat

Sen. Kay Hagan on Facebook announced her support of the decision to allow women in combat units. She says women will be afforded more opportunities for the same career advancement as their male counterparts.

But Hagan knows squat about combat. There is no grand heroic music played. The survivors don't march bravely off screen with flags waving. It is ugly, terrible, disgusting stuff.

It has nothing to do with careers, it is not a job opportunity; it is just much fear, pain, death and destruction. Those that engage in it carry that experience with them to the grave. They also carry the memory of their lost comrades in arms and see over and over the horrible ways they died and were maimed. When you see combat veterans with tears in their eyes, the tears are not those of happiness.

I hope she will treat combat veterans with some respect and remember this: Serving one's country means sacrifice, sometimes including your very life and leaving your loved ones with a terrible loss.

She shouldn’t trivialize this with her shallow comments, as this isn't about politically correct concepts of gender equality. This is about the most sacred service a citizen can perform for the country and his fellow Americans.

RALPH CHAPPELL

Winston-Salem

Clarification

The $5 million grant declined by the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school board referred to in the Jan. 27 letter “An educational agenda” represented the national total of the grant. The grants for each of the four local schools would vary from $1,200 to $9,000, depending on the subject area of the new course.

Winston-Salem Journal LTE TU 01/29/13

No trust fund

For years, there have been references to a Social Security Trust Fund. This led to the belief that the money withheld from employees and matched by employers was set aside for the ultimate payment to retirees.

A lie: there is no trust fund. Social Security is now called an entitlement. This means “it is given to you by the grace of the federal government.”

With the debt ceiling issue on the front burner, the president is warning that Social Security payments could be in jeopardy. Why only Social Security payments? Why not retired federal government retirees’ pensions? Isn’t that like Social Security? Why not all the money given to foreign countries, most of whom don’t spend it in on humanitarian purposes, and don’t really like American anyway? Why cut Social Security and give money to Egypt? What about the Obama vacations?

I need to be in charge of government spending. Am I to believe that the only expense reductions available are from Social Security and veterans’ benefits? Just wait; Congress will vote itself a pay raise before all this is over. Obama will take his entourage on a world trip. But we are going to have to cut Social Security and Medicare.

“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.” Ha! We are being hoodwinked, robbed and generally worked over with a screwdriver. There is a new phrase to describe people who are being led like sheep: low information voters. Ain’t that the truth?

J. FRANK JOINER

Winston-Salem

Eight years of service

I am writing to thank Dale Folwell for his eight years of service to the people of Forsyth County as our representative in the General Assembly (“ Folwell awaits next challenge,” Jan. 6). During his time in Raleigh, Dale left a positive mark for the people of North Carolina. As a conservative, Dale was able to work across the aisle to get things done for his constituents and the citizens of our state despite being in the minority for most of his tenure. He was the primary sponsor of nearly 30 bills that were signed into law by Democratic governors.

Dale was one of the most effective legislators in Raleigh during his tenure, tackling problems that he likes to call “invisible," but in fact, have a real impact on the people of our state. Some of the highlights of Dale’s service include saving the state billions of dollars in retirement health-care costs, setting a later age for kindergartners to start school, reforming workers' compensation and increasing organ donation.

I do not know what the future holds for Dale but I hope that he will continue to serve the people of Forsyth County and the entire state of North Carolina. We need more leaders like Dale Folwell, who are focused on making a difference, solving problems and delivering results.

TODD POOLE

Winston-Salem

Short-changing students

The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education has demonstrated a wanton disregard for both students and taxpayers in refusing a grant to provide Advanced Placement courses in math and science (“School officials decline AP grant,” Jan. 23).

Four of our high schools qualified to receive grants in order to offer as many as eight AP courses. The board's members justified themselves by stating that they wanted to encourage students to use the Career Center. “I say let's do it our way,” stated Jill Tackabery, a board member.

Commuting to the Career Center to take one or two AP classes is highly disruptive to a student's school day and is obviously not as convenient as being able to take a desired course right on campus. Short-changing our most talented students is not responsible leadership.

Let us hope that a majority of board members insist on re-visiting this issue to allow our students to access - at no taxpayer cost - these advanced courses.

BROOKE JOHNSON SUITER

Winston-Salem

The NRA position

The NRA position: more guns, not fewer, provide true security. The insanity of the NRA is evidenced by NRA leader Wayne LaPierre's outrageous and revolting statements.

Recently the NRA released an advertisement that called the president an “elitist hypocrite,” and asked why he opposes the idea of placing armed guards in every school -- a proposal pushed by the NRA -- despite the fact that his own children attend a school with similar security. By the way, NRA, President Obama's children are a target of terrorists and certified goofballs. All past presidents’ children had Secret Service protection.

LaPierre set his sights on Obama's proposal to expand background checks to anyone buying a gun, whether at a store or in a private sale at an auction or convention. He said, “There’s only two reasons for a federal list on gun owners: to either tax ’em or take ’em.”

President Obama proposed background checks on all gun sales and bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. He has not in the least insinuated that the Second Amendment be abolished.

“Tax ’em or take ’em” is so deafeningly stupid that it challenges one to slap oneself out of a nightmare. It’s a classical and totally outdated extreme right-wing doctrine of paranoia.

According to the NRA, the right to own assault weapons is much more sacred than the life of an individual (child and adult).

Last, but not least, I am not a member of the NRA and I vote.

DAVE HARMAN

Pfafftown

Winston-Salem Journal LTE MO 01/28/13

The great divide

The great divide in our nation is between those who continually seek to receive more from the federal government and those who realize that we don't have the money to pay for what is being sought from the government.

A nation, like a business or a family, can be brought down by excessive debt when those who hold the debt decide that they want to receive more interest on such debt, and those who owe the debt are unable to pay the greater amount. The result could mean extreme hardship on those who owe the debt, and such hardship would result in even less means with which to pay the debt service.

For those who seek more from the government, it seems that those who seek to reduce spending are obstructionist, when in reality they are realists trying to prevent disaster.

These two objectives are at cross purposes. Sadly, the issues will never be resolved by either of the parties, until the holder of the debt takes control and imposes harsh measures on our people.

Think it can't happen? The present trend is unsustainable, and if the problem is not resolved, it will happen. Only the time element is unknown.

JACK SHEARIN

Winston-Salem

Good-looking guns

I admit, I’m partial to good-looking sporting guns with nice wood and metal work. I like the way they look, their accuracy, their history, and their power.

I hate ugly guns, so it doesn’t bother me that assault weapons might be banned. They were not designed for looks. Soldiers need assault rifles.

Civilians don’t – the rifles are too ugly for civilians, not just in looks, but in attitude. They were designed to act ugly, to fire rapidly and repeatedly, to fill the air with lead, in hopes that at least a few bullets kill or injured the enemy – a valuable quality in battle, but not in civilian life.

There are other ugly weapons, both in looks and demeanor, which we don’t allow in civilian life, such as machine guns, bazookas, mortars, hand grenades, and any firearm equipped with a silencer. It doesn’t bother me one bit that assault rifles might be added to that list.

If someone seriously thinks he needs an assault rifle in civilian life, the simple fact that he has that thought is reason enough to disqualify him from obtaining one because it demonstrates he’s a nut, and the last thing we need is more nuts with assault rifles.

Since we can’t ban nuts, we can at least add assault rifles to the list of ugly weapons designed for military use only.

JOHN WOODING

Winston-Salem

Fewer, not more

I am confused by the distorted logic that allows folks to claim that arming more people will result in fewer incidents of gun violence. This is a statistical impossibility.

Sen. Rand Paul, from my home state of Kentucky, suggests we arm teachers and principals in every school. Sadly, he is not alone in this line of thinking. After making this proclamation, Paul said that schools would need to be comfortable with allowing staff to have quick access to guns…safety restrictions would be essential, including having the weapons be locked up in schools.

This is completely nonsensical. If the guns are safely locked away from students’ access (a huge concern), then how are teachers able to access them quickly enough to thwart an attack? Furthermore, as the proud daughter of an educator, I surmise that not every teacher is comfortable with the idea of packing heat to school every day.

Additionally, I take no solace in thinking that my daughter will attend school where every adult is armed to the teeth. What message does this send to children? That the only way to be safe is to carry a firearm? How about teaching children non-lethal ways of coping with life’s up and downs?

It's clear to me that Sen. Paul and others who support arming every adult in public schools have not fully fleshed out the consequences and repercussions of their position. I, for one, would prefer fewer guns in schools, not more .

LESLYE POINDEXTER

Winston Salem

Rejecting religion

Conservatives can bemoan the loss of mandatory, government-enforced prayer in schools and the nation’s move away from religion all it wants, but those who have moved away from it know why they have, and it has nothing to do with a lack of morality. It’s because conservative religion is authoritarian, hateful, ignorant and backward. Its highest priorities are trying to keep people who love each other from getting married, and worshiping fetuses at the expense of women’s health and even life. And there are the adjunct priorities of being as mean as possible to poor people and putting at least one firearm in every American hand. This is morality?

And we reject it because we don’t want to live our lives in paranoid fear of political conspiracies, fear of people who are different from us, fear of making progress as a nation by working together for mutual goals.

Conservative morality is an oxymoron – and bankrupt. And that’s why young people will continue to move away from it.

BETHANY PARE

Winston-Salem

Winston-Salem Journal LTE SU 01/27/13

Society decayed

What has happened to the United States of America? How did we get to the position that we are in as a nation today? I fear, deep down in our heart of hearts, we know the answer. When I was going to school, I never worried about being shot throughout the school day. The thought really never crossed my mind. How has society decayed so greatly in such a short span of time?

I firmly believe this all had its roots about 40 years ago. Remember when we, as a nation, asked God to get out of our schools? No more organized prayer. What about the decay of the institution of marriage where so many families have been separated and destroyed? These seeds were sown well off in the past. We are now reaping what has been sown - tenfold! Consider the violent and/or deviant sexual television shows that constantly lower the bar of morality as well as the explicit, murderous video games that a nation of impressionable children have been raised on. What else should we expect for being absentee parents?

We must remember; only what is done with the son of God, Jesus Christ, will yield lasting dividends. God is a “longsuffering” God, but I fear he is about done suffering with the United States - the nation he has blessed that doesn’t seem to give him reverence nor fear him anymore.

GARY CASTO

Rural Hall

‘Chaotic times’

The Jan. 21 letter “Prepare” begins: “Those of us who are students of the Bible recognize that chaotic times will prevail just before the coming of Christ.”

Those of us who are students of the Bible and history know that “chaotic times” is pretty much the status quo and has been since before Jesus was born. On that scale, not much has changed.

The letter writer cites financial breakdown, rampant food shortages – which, again, are typical – and, he says, “the majority of people will be enslaved by government dependence,” which I don’t remember reading in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. I’ve got a feeling – maybe it’s just me - the letter writer might, just might, be stretching the text a teensy tiny bit in order to make a political point.

He wouldn’t be the first.

But in any event, I’ve been hearing that the end of the world and the return of Christ are eminent for about 60 years now. The claims have been made for more like 200 years. I hope the letter writer will forgive me if I don’t sell everything I own and rush to the nearest mountaintop to await The Rapture.

Just in case the end is not near, shouldn’t we try to leave a decent world behind for our children and grandchildren?

RON F. SLATER

Winston-Salem

Terrible message

Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration has gotten off on the wrong foot.

McCrory says state government is broken. He says we need reform. But then he goes and pays bigger salaries to wealthy campaign donors he appointed to cabinet positions.

If that’s what Gov. McCrory thinks needed fixing, it sends a terrible message to this taxpayer.

FAITH FITZGERALD PITTS

Winston-Salem

Sum It Up

Are you satisfied with Hillary Clinton’s testimony before Congress on Benghazi?

Winston-Salem Journal LTE SA 01/26/13

Broke and broken

North Carolina currently faces a more than $2 billion debt to the federal government for loans used to fund the state’s share of unemployment compensation benefits – the third largest unemployment insurance (UI) debt in the U.S. The UI crisis has rightfully been characterized as our own fiscal cliff. It is the largest single drag on job creation and retention in our state.

North Carolina’s unemployment insurance system is not only broke but also broken. The state agency responsible for unemployment benefits has allowed $556 million in improper jobless benefits payouts from 2008-2011, of which millions involved allegations of fraud. An investigation uncovered serious problems that contribute to UI fraud going back 15 years.

It gets worse. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, North Carolina had the worst scores in the U.S. on important quality control measures in the last quarter. In fact, of 120 quality checks performed on our state’s unemployment agency since 1997, it has passed only twice.

While fraud is a serious detriment to the solvency and integrity of the UI system, North Carolina’s UI system is facing significant challenges that need to be addressed with a balanced approach. Our own Rep. Julia Howard has led the N.C. House’s initiative to fix the UI system.

The Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce has joined a Reemployment Coalition of businesses, local chambers and allied business organizations to address the state’s UI system and advocate for reforms that put the focus back on creating jobs for North Carolinians.

GAYLE N. ANDERSON

PRESIDENT AND CEO

GREATER WINSTON-SALEM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Winston-Salem

Banning churches?

The writer of the Jan. 16 letter “Transforming America” reveals the paranoia at the heart of many gun-rights advocates.

He writes of people who “do not want a free America,” and “want a society where the government controls the people, rather than the other way around.”

I certainly want to live in a nation that has a strong government and strong laws, especially when the alternative is Somalia, but the conclusions he draws from that – that someone wants to ban and take away all guns, then private property, then churches – I’m sorry, but that’s just madness. No one wants that. Who would? Why?

I read and listen to messages from prominent atheists and humanists, likely among the groups he finds suspect. I’ve never heard any of them say they want to ban private property or churches. Rather than trying to ban religion, I’ve heard their spokespeople stand up for everyone’s right to believe whatever they choose, including religion.

I even Googled “ban churches America,” and though there were around 126 million “hits,” none in the first 10 pages (where I stopped browsing) were about banning churches in America. The closest, ironically, was about Christians who want to ban mosques in America.

Where in the world does this letter writer get his ideas? Whatever he’s reading, listening to or watching, it is distorting the truth badly and madly. The question to ask is, why? What do they hope to gain?

I’ll bet it involves money.

JAMES T. FULLER

Winston-Salem

Crafting legislation

It is incredibly difficult to craft "common-sense" legislation about gun control when the people involved in the legislation have no common sense.

PETER BRICKEY

Winston-Salem

A frightful mistake

Regarding the serious problem of cars illegally passing stopped school buses, we should consider the question, "Are drivers doing this on purpose or by accident?" If we don't know the answer, we should do some research.

I would never pass a stopped school bus on purpose, but I could do it by mistake. Prosecuting me more effectively and vigorously for that mistake is not the best solution to the problem.

People will think, "How could you possibly not see a school bus?" Those people are not the people we need to worry about. We need to worry about conscientious, law-abiding drivers who might have work or family issues on their minds - who might be listening to music or the news, solving a problem, or entertaining their children - and who could make the frightful mistake of passing a stopped school bus.

I never fail to be sharply aware of a police car, ambulance, or fire truck when they have their lights blazing and sirens screaming. School buses are designed to draw far less attention, and they do.

DAVE KING

Kernersville

Finish the Thought

Briefly complete the sentence below and sent it to us at letters@wsjournal.com. We’ll print some of the results in a few days. Only signed entries, please -- no anonymous ones.

“Drilling off the North Carolina coast would …”

Winston-Salem Journal LTE FR 01/25/13

Sum It Up

The Sum It Up question from Sunday was: Do you approve of President Obama’s proposals for gun control?

The president's proposals for gun control do not break new ground, but they are the right things to do. They are not infringing on the Second Amendment right to own arms but to regulate the circulation of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Doesn't the Second Amendment contain the words "well regulated"? When the Second Amendment was adopted the nation did not have a standing army nor a well organized police force. Hence the people needed to arm themselves to defend themselves and their families and the nation from foreign invasion. Now the nation spends a vast sum of money on the armed services and the police forces; is it necessary for the citizens to arm themselves?

BOON T. LEE

When you actually read them, along with his comments concerning them, they turn out to be pretty sensible and moderate. No “gun grabbing” involved. I wish he’d go further.

The Republicans have done their best to portray the president as some kind of rabid radical, but those who actually listen to him and observe his actions without the Fox “News” filter know better – that’s why they voted for him. His political views have more in common with Ronald Reagan than Jimmy Carter.

JANE FREEMONT GIBSON

If President Obama's promises versus his actions regarding health care, employment, the economy, fiscal responsibility, transparency, ethics and unity are any gauge, his "gun control" proposals will hurt far more people than they help. No measure of security will be gained by further disarming law-abiding citizens. Congress must uphold the American people's constitutional right to keep and bear arms, for it is a key right of truly free people.

DEB PHILLIPS

No. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that the government is going after the guns of law-abiding citizens while ignoring the enormous problem we have with gangs.

There are over 30,000 gangs in our country today consisting of (mainly) boys and men between the ages of 14 and 30, of every race and nationality. The FBI estimates that they are responsible for more than half of the crime, including homicide, in most cities and even more in others. They are armed with illegally gained guns and are increasingly getting semi-automatic, military-style weapons.

Many of the gang members are boys between the ages of 14 and 19. Gun-related deaths are common for these kids, as well as other children of all ages who are often caught in the middle of gang violence. Where's the outrage for these children? Are they not important enough for our government to address this issue?

The FBI can list the names of every gang and where they're located. Why aren't we taking their weapons first? Why aren't we addressing the social issues that are driving our children to join gangs in the first place? It's time we tackled the real issues in our country.

CHRISTY NUNN

Those who don't agree with anything the president says, and who use their own facts of distortion no matter what he says, will always try to sway the public against him.

What he called for was background checks, more help for the mentally impaired, and a ban on assault weapons with large clips. What about that do they not understand? Nobody is trying to take away people's guns used to protect themselves. It also has nothing to do with the Second Amendment.

NAOMI J. DAVIS

My only complaint is the proposals for gun control do not go far enough.

The sport of skeet shooting I can understand. Killing animals for food, I can appreciate. The only purpose of handguns is to kill and I cannot understand the joy people get in killing.

N.M. WRIGHT

No. Same old feel-good fluff that hasn't worked too well. Let's try, in North Carolina, the Florida model: 10/20/Life. If you commit a crime while in possession of a firearm, 10 years. If you brandish or threaten with that firearm, 20. If you shoot somebody, life. It has worked wonders there.

CHARLIE WEAVER

I will approve of Obama’s proposals when he makes the death penalty mandatory in all 50 states with only three appeals (appeals must be within five years of the crime).

Also when he stops illegal immigration (per legal definition, not his).

JAMES P. SELIGMAN

Yes, it's a start.

KAM BENFIELD

In full disclosure, I am a gun owner. I have also never seen the need to own an automatic assault rifle, but see no reason why some responsible person can't buy one.

Safety is critical when dealing with guns and registering them is no more invasive than getting a drivers license.

But now we come to the dangerous part, when I decide what is right for you. When one person's political point of view and position of power allows his agenda to become law, I have a real problem with that. That approach spreads to many aspects of life. Look at New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's food mandates.

Plus we have already proven Prohibition does not work for alcohol, drugs and soon guns.

Register? Yes. Background check? Yes, again. You telling me what I may buy? No, I don't think so.

KEN HOGLUND

Obama, like many presidents before him, approaches problems by forming commissions, councils, and task forces to come up with solutions to our nation’s problems. He formed the Simpson-Bowles Commission to formulate solutions for our money problems, the Jobs Council to gather ideas to fix unemployment, and the Gun Control Task Force to collect ideas to stop mass shootings.

All three groups came up with solutions. I think it is very telling that President Obama ignored the two that dealt with debt and unemployment, but jumped on the one about gun control. This shows he only is focused on his own personal agenda.

The quote that comes to mind:“You only have the rights you are willing to fight for.”

Gun control is not about guns, but about control.”

KAY ANDERSON

Winston-Salem Journal LTE TH 01/24/13

The real problem

What is the real problem? Before video games we had “Cowboys and Indians.” Violent movies have been around since there were movies. Mental illness, as well as weapons of some kind, have been around since there have been people. (Coincidence?) So, what is different - not only now, but here, in America?

The answer is, the broadcast media. Let’s look at what they do: They glorify the shooters, they promote the event and they set the bar for the next guy. Why? To increase ratings. Of course, they are never going to say this. They would much rather point out the problems than point within for a solution.

I’ve heard many people say that England does not have these killings because of its gun laws. I say it’s not the lack of guns, but the media that makes the difference. Try watching the BBC. It, as well as the America’s local newspapers, does something that we rarely see on television these days: It reports the news, and it does not sensationalize the story. No hype!

In our house, the assailants are referred to by what they were/are, “killer.” I don’t know nor care to ever know their names. We refuse to give them what they wanted: Fame.

TOM RAIF

Lewisville

Finish the Thought

Saturday, we asked readers to complete the sentence: “Lance Armstrong’s confession means …”

“... self-serving, self-preservation and to halt his slide into obliteration or into the dustbin of history.”

BOON T. LEE

“... he's completed a ghastly trifecta of deceit, coverup and ‘remorse.’ He now has the perfect résumé for a ‘successful’ career in Washington, D.C.”

DEB PHILLIPS

“… that he lied. Maybe his future will be to become a politician.”

RONALD KIRKPATRICK

“… he is a liar and phony and is very qualified to be a politician. ”

JOHN PICKLES

“... while we may not know how sincere his motive was, at least he made a public and now international confession about his lies and duplicity, and with hope he is a more humble man as a result.”

PETER C. VENABLE

“… he is now qualified to run for Congress because he would fit right in with all the other liars and cheats that are already there. He would also be qualified to serve in the presidential Cabinet.”

C.J. DENNY

“… another chance for people who don't understand cycling to mouth off. I am not defending anything Lance Armstrong did, but when you crucify him, you don't understand the sport.”

KAM BENFIELD

“… little, except to the mindless people who live their lives vicariously through celebrities. Why did he dope? Easy, the money and glory. Why did he deny it? Easy again, he wanted to keep the money and glory.

“Imagine the enlightenment of our citizens if the time spent reporting celebrity news was spent dissecting those issues that actually affect us.

“But reality can be so inconvenient and uncomfortable.”

KEN HOGLUND

“… in the vast scheme of things, not much really. We, as a society, should stop putting sports figures on a pedestal. This would alleviate us being disappointed.”

FRANK SCISM

Winston-Salem Journal LTE WE 01/23/13

Children at risk

I wanted to share my opinion on the recent article “Motorists put school children at risk” (Jan. 13). I thought that this article was very informative and had some surprising statistics.

Counties should definitely invest in the technology that is used to catch people that pass by a school bus with its stop sign extended. This will save lives and penalize the people that commit this offense. It is a shame that Forsyth County missed the deadline to apply for the free program for the cameras. I know it is expensive, but I think that every county in North Carolina should be given the technology for this problem.

Children should not have to be at risk when they are exiting or entering the school bus.

TAYLOR CHAMBERLIN

Lewisville

Gun accountability

Predictably arrogant and too clever by half, the NRA proclaims "the only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." In other words, people without guns, like children and teachers, do not deserve to be safe. They should have to go get guns so that current gun owners can keep theirs.

Confronted about such fatuous victim blaming, they'll regurgitate the Second Amendment. But the terrible mass-killing power of modern arms couldn't have been foreseen in 1789. Claiming that the Second Amendment's authors intended to convey a right to own revolvers, shotguns, semi-automatic handguns, rifles, and assault rifles, etc., is patently absurd. Insistence only underscores militant ignorance and profound disregard for the Constitution.

Illegal guns for illegal purposes begin as legal guns for legal purposes. Strict, comprehensive accountability for legal guns necessarily redounds to more accountability for illegal guns and far less gun violence.

Strict, comprehensive accountability means: for every single gun, including 300 million already in private hands, purchase waiting periods; background checks; annual registration, including a ballistics profile and owner's DNA and fingerprints in a federal law-enforcement database; annual training and testing in safe and accurate use and storage of each gun; liability insurance; mandatory reporting of those deemed a threat by health-care, law-enforcement, legal, social work, etc., professionals; fees commensurate with costs; government buy-back of guns from those who don't wish to comply; aggressive enforcement of stiff criminal and civil penalties for those who don't comply.

ANDY G. MILLER

Kernersville

Quick points

Three quick points about guns:

♦ Anyone who thinks he’s going to stop the federal government with a personal arsenal is dreaming. Even if there were a legitimate reason to do so, which, in spite of delusional “Emperor Obama” propaganda, there isn’t, that horse left the barn decades ago. The feds are going to do what the feds want to do and shooting it out with them would be a big, big mistake.

♦ I’m no hero, but I would much rather face a crazed killer who has a knife, an ax, a rock or a stick than a crazed killer who has a gun.

♦ What kind of crazy people, in the wake of a gun massacre of children, say, “We need to go buy some more guns”?

Gun control is really not a bad idea.

HANK BOLES

Winston-Salem

The same concern

As I watched the replay of the demigod in chief (aka President Obama) opining on his plan to keep children safe with his new gun control plan, I wondered why he did not show the same concern over saving children’s lives during his tenure as an Illinois state senator. On multiple occasions, he voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. This act would have required medical personal to assist infants born of failed abortions with sustainable care rather than placing them aside unattended to expire.

As always, this man and his minions never miss an opportunity to increase the power of the federal government and steal the liberty of a complacent people.

JOEL CORNELIUS

Yadkinville

NRA

I have a comment regarding the article “Congress won’t OK gun ban, NRA says” (Jan. 14). I truly believe that the NRA, with its giant assault weapon, along with some 24 million rounds of ammo - oops, did I say ammo? - I meant dollars - aimed at Congress will definitely impede the possibility of legislation banning assault weapons being passed.

JOHN PICKLES

Lewisville

Religious freedom

The letter “Preventing deaths” (Jan. 16) was about gun control, and I hate to get off track, but the sentence in it that caught my attention was this one: “The freedom to practice our religion is already under assault by this administration.”

That’s a mind-blower. Is the writer a Druid or something?

How in the world could anyone interpret anything this administration has done as an assault on anyone’s freedom to practice their religion? I follow the news closely, but I literally can’t imagine what the writer could be referring to.

Surely it’s not the president’s support of same-sex marriage. That only provides more freedom for churches that want to marry same-sex partners; it doesn’t in any way affect churches that don’t want to perform such marriages.

Surely it’s not his insistence that insurance companies provide birth-control for those who want it. Again, that doesn’t affect anyone who chooses not to use birth control. That’s providing freedom, not assaulting it.

Surely he’s not referring to attempts to keep some zealots in the military from forcing their religion on others. Obviously, not an assault on freedom. Though in any of those cases, siding the other way would have been an assault on freedom.

Please, someone tell me one concrete thing this administration has done to assault anyone’s freedom to practice their religion - one thing, that is, that doesn’t violate this principle: Keeping people of your religion from denying someone else’s freedom is not assaulting your freedom.

PHIL RONALD TURNER

Winston-Salem

In favor of limits

It is clear that military style “assault rifles” and large capacity magazines increase gun fatalities. In Aurora, Colo., over 20 were shot and 12 died. The shooter got off 30 shots in 27 seconds, according to police. At Sandy Hook Elementary School, 26 fatalities in a few minutes, multiple bullet wounds in the small bodies of the children. In Tucson, Ariz., six died before the shooter was tackled to the ground when he stopped to reload.

The Readers’ Forum regularly creates lively debate, letters both pro and con, on issues like the Affordable Care Act and the N.C. marriage amendment. In the weeks since Dec. 14, only a few have even hinted that the Second Amendment should protect a private right to own assault style weapons or high capacity magazines. The sentiment seems to be clearly in favor of limits on those homicidal tools.

I, for one, do not fear “government tyranny” in such a limitation. Freedom of speech under the First Amendment is not absolute. I guess I have more confidence in American democracy than the NRA.

This should be easier for Congress than solving the budget mess. Public sentiment is now behind it. But how many of our representatives can stand up to the threat of getting an “F” on their NRA “report cards” going into the next election? I hope and pray that there are enough who have the courage.

ROBERT MANLEY

Clemmons

Reasonable solutions

I was raised on our family farm with guns being normal; I went hunting with adults as soon as I could walk. I got my own .22 rifle in my early teens, a gift from my father. Now, the old hunting guns have been moved to a less visible location; I have many school groups visit my farm each year. Not everybody should be encouraged to own guns in his or her home.

I did a four-year stint with the Marines in the mid ’60s with one tour in Vietnam. I was well trained and qualified to use most of the weapons available to the Marines at that time.

Some gun-support people would consider me ignorant on the gun-control issue of today; I support having an open dialog and finding reasonable solutions. I favor compromise over fear.

I taught kindergarten for over 30 years, and practiced intruder alerts with my students as required by the school system. My main concern and that of most teachers was the safety of the students. I don’t want a gun-packing person walking among my grandchildren; no matter how much training they receive, accidents will happen.

Look at the schools in Europe for better solutions. A well-gated fence and locked buildings would be cheaper and safer.

WAYNE WOOSLEY

Pfafftown