Waiting for solutions
With family members who are teachers and grandchildren in public school, I read with interest the story "Officials split on school guards" (Jan. 7). I have concern for my family's safety as well as other staff and students.
I was surprised that Winston-Salem City Council Member Dan Besse opposed putting police officers in elementary schools. I agree with a ban on assault weapons, as does Besse, however, I believe in the Second Amendment and the right to protect one's family and property.
Guns get the blame, but why not ban violence on television and in the movies? How about putting some controls on the video-game industry? What was the government thinking when it cut funding for mental health?
I would be curious as to what Besse plans to do in the interim, while Washington debates the issue. The questions are many. Waiting on the bureaucrats in Washington to act is not the answer. Nothing takes a priority in D.C. except pay raises. The fiscal cliff was proof of that.
If Besse is waiting on Washington, he might be old and gray before it responds. If local government is to err, err on the side of safety and move quickly in protecting the students and staff in our schools.
DARRELL E. DAVIS
Kernersville
Selfish vote
I hope Rep. Virginia Foxx is proud of the fact that she voted no for Hurricane Sandy relief. Being a native of Long Island, I find her vote quite selfish and irresponsible.
A total of 67 U.W. House members voted no for relief, all Republicans. I'm sure if the hurricane hit one of the red states like North Carolina her vote would have been quite different. In 2007, Rep. Foxx endorsed President Bush's disaster declaration and its resulting U.S.D.A. crop-freezing relief when it affected her own constituents.
Rep. Foxx has been an embarrassment on the national level for quite some time. This is a classic example of, “I got mine, the heck with you.”
DENNIS WINNICKI
Winston-Salem
Inconvenient facts
Gun-control advocates are using the latest tragedy to pursue their agenda. Like most ideologues, they ignore the inconvenient facts that don't fit their goals.
It appears to me people want handguns for protection from criminals. There is also a growing fear of the nanny state taking over, hence the semi-automatic rifles. Sad that our leaders have built so much distrust and anger that this is even a consideration.
There are three types of gun owners, in descending order of media coverage: The mass murderer who is usually male, white and mentally ill. The second is the urban thug settling gang disputes and finally the normal, law-abiding gun owner.
Stopping the first group is sadly almost impossible. The second group is responsible for the most deaths but the politically correct attitude toward “stop and frisk” prohibits the eradication of these deaths. Finally, the last group does not break the law and therefore there is nothing to "fix."
So I hope the lawmakers exercise some sense of balance when they attack this issue. With hope, the lunatic fringe, on both sides, won't lead us to throw the baby out with the bath water.
KEN HOGLUND
Clemmons
Clear evidence
In the Jan. 6 story “ ‘Hope has power, and so does prayer’ ” the good mayor of Mount Airy, Deborah Cochran, thinks that prayer might stem the economic collapse of America’s manufacturing base. We need pragmatism, courage and action, not just prayer.
A half-million dollar price to bring one small company to Mount Airy is bribery at its worst, coercive at best. It’s shameful that elected officials are reduced to beggary by companies that can craft any deal they want while negotiating with desperate communities. This is the fallout from NAFTA and CAFTA – metaphorical nuclear bombs going off in manufacturing hubs all across America, a one-way ticket for American jobs out of the country. Our politicians sold us out to the highest bidder (big business and its lobbyists).
Cochran should form a coalition of community members to lobby D.C. politicians. Demand fair-trade, not free-trade agreements. Overturn these job-killing pacts. The evidence is clear. The American landscape is strewn with empty factories and warehouses, broken dreams and shattered lives of American families, and yet we hear only silence from our elected officials. Why?
We all know who controls power in D.C., but the question is who among us are willing to challenge their influence and power? We have a voice and a vote, but do we use them frequently and wisely? Politics is not a spectator sport and prayer alone won’t get it done. God helps those who help themselves.
KATHRYN DALTON
Boone
"There are three types of gun owners, in descending order of media coverage: The mass murderer who is usually male, white and mentally ill. The second is the urban thug settling gang disputes and finally the normal, law-abiding gun owner.
ReplyDeleteStopping the first group is sadly almost impossible. The second group is responsible for the most deaths but the politically correct attitude toward “stop and frisk” prohibits the eradication of these deaths. Finally, the last group does not break the law and therefore there is nothing to "fix."
Ken Hoglund
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What's funny about your comment is that you obviously suffer from political correctness (or the Journal forced you to) because you removed the race of the urban thug that kills the majority of people with guns-black.
You see, if we could, we would be proposing laws to restrict gun ownership in just black neighborhoods in inner cities, because that's where the most problems are.
Have you seen CNN or the New York Times write articles about the black plight through the illegal use guns? Or have you seen an article that outlines that most of the guns used in the inner city are being stolen from white neighborhoods in the suburbs to be used in the inner city. Oh No! That ain't happening.
Nobody is going to tell the 'truth' on guns in the media, because that wouldn't be politically correct. Because telling the truth might offend somebody.
Ronald Reagan did that in California with the Mulford Act in response to the Black Panthers arming themselves and policing the police.
ReplyDeleteFrom Wikipedia: The Mulford Act was a 1967 California bill prohibiting the public carrying of loaded firearms. Named after Republican assemblyman Don Mulford, the bill garnered national attention after the Black Panthers marched on the California Capitol to protest the bill.
Thanks for sharing Wordly. I think I do remember that.
DeleteHowever, you see my point. Democrats seem to be experts at 'punishing' the wrong people for misdeeds.
Why don't we use some logic in our new law making, instead of killing the Constitutional rights of people that haven't broken any law.
I see Jesse Jackson wants firearms makers to be held responsible for gun violence, conveniently ignoring the people who actually committed the 506 murders logged in his hometown in 2012. All right, and we'll bill carmakers for accidents, carpenters for falls on stairs, and hypocritical tax-cheating reverends for nausea.
ReplyDeletePeople who drive cars and business owners do carry liability insurance which does go up when there is an accident. I believe liability insurance should be part of gun ownership. As to whether that insurance should be carried by the owner, the retailer, the manufacturer or all three, I have no particular preference.
DeleteIt should also be noted that the courts have held manufacturers and business owners repsonsible for deaths and serious injuries when found guilty of negligence that led to those deaths and injuries. Of course, guns are designed for the purpose of inflicting death and serious injury. IIRC, gun manufacturers are shielded from such negligence lawsuits.
DeleteJesse Jackson is of of the biggest racist we've got in America. He just wants to find another way so that African Americans can get money from the 'white' man without working.
DeleteCNN reported that a black male has a higher chance of dying from a gun shot wound in Philadelphia than in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Hello? Where are the gun problems coming from?It ain't from the white boys in Wyoming for sure!
Correction: than a soldier in Afghanistan or Iraq.
DeleteMy mind is faster than my fingers, sorry.
Yes, dotnet, cars are covered by liability policies, but if I hit someone with a baseball bat, the liability is confined to me, not the bat manufacturer. And lots of people drive without liability insurance. The carmakers are not responsible for personal negligence there, either. This is a matter of personal responsibility.
DeleteNow if a firearm discharges because of a defect in the weapon itself, that's another matter. And it does happen. The old .45 Colt Single Action Army revolver (familiar to viewers of Westerns, the quintessential cowboy gun), among other revolvers, had a firing pin that rested to close to the cartridge in front of it. Sometimes, if the revolver were dropped or otherwise struck, the gun would fire, as the pin would strike the cartridge primer. Savvy owners would therefore leave the chamber in front of the hammer empty. Modern revolvers have rebounding hammers or transfer bars to avert this problem, and allow all chambers to be safely loaded. Colt still manufactures the .45 SAA, but I don't know if they have modified the hammer and firing pin to prevent inadvertent ignition.
The above scenario actually happened to General Patton, who wore a .357 Smith & Wesson on one hip and a Colt .45 Single Action Army on the other. While he was standing and talking with a visitor, the general's Colt discharged, with the bullet whizzing past his leg into the floor, no real harm done, except to Patton's considerable ego, no doubt. I suspect he probably was resting his hand on the gun in its holster, and that was enough pressure on the hammer to shove the pin into the cartridge primer.
They've long since changed that 'defect' as you put it on the Colt. That's why you can no longer 'fan' it, and have it continue to fire.
DeleteBy the way Stab, the .45 is a great gun so long as you're not on the receiving end. One of my buddies was shot in the arm with one, and it took him almost a year to get it to work again. It still doesn't work too well to this day.
The .45 Long Colt is a fine handgun cartridge, though handguns chambered for it are a bit large for my medium-sized hand. I can imagine that your friend's recovery took a while. That is a large slug that carries some punch.
DeleteI think I had read that the SAA had been changed from a hammer-mounted firing pin to a frame-mounted pin.
Good afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: "...why not ban violence on television and in the movies? How about putting some controls on the video-game industry?" - I see Mr. Davis "believes" in the 2nd, but apparently not the 1st Amendment. Violence has always been a part of entertainment. Mr. Besse is taking a pragmatic approach in looking at the costs involved versus the actual demonstrated need. Forsyth County has shown a greater need for bus cameras to catch those passing stopped school buses than guards at all elementary schools.
LTE 2: Ms. Foxx is in a gerrymandered district, so the job belongs to her for as long as she wants it.
LTE 3: Any talk of banning guns (I'm assuming that's Mr. Hoglund's characteriazation of the "gun control agenda") is like discussing birth control with a girl who's already pregnant. It's way too late in the game. Looking at the "three types of gun owners" (over generalized, but I'll play along), I agree about the mentally ill. However, there is also nothing that can be done to stop the "gang thug" either and it has nothing to do with “stop and frisk” or "political correctness". As for assuming the "normal, law-abiding gun owner" doesn't break the law and "therefore there is nothing to fix'", it appears Mr. Hoglund is being the ideologue here. You never know when a "normal, law-abiding gun owner" will have a mental breakdown, fail to properly store a gun, or have an accident involving a gun.
LTE 4: Unfortunately, incentives are considered a necessary part of the package in bringing a new company to town. The first time I recall incentives being used to lure a major company was with the BMW plant in SC which had nothing to do with NAFTA or CAFTA. Ms. Dalton should have stopped after her initial paragraph. With technology being what it is today and what it will become in the future, any job involving a routine, repetitive task is going away. The question is what will become of those who can only perform routine, repetitive tasks?
If you lock your gun inside of your house, you should have a reasonable expectation that the gun is secure, and some Democrat wont break into your house, and take you gun, and then go off and kill somebody with it.
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy if I'm outta line....ala Wayne Pierre of the NRA.
It isn't the ones outside the home you need to worry about.
DeleteThieves seldom break into your home and shoot you with your own gun. That's a liberal myth.
DeleteYes, accidents with guns do happen inside the home. However, if you own a gun, everyone in the home should be trained to safely handle the weapon.
Most of the homicides with guns in America are suicides. Get educated dotnet. Refuse to remain a ignorant liberal is what I always say.
Training isn't enough. Some occupants may be too young to be trained. And fascination may be too much to overcome. Prior to our marriage, I let Susan have a .38 that she kept in her safe, on the off chance that a slow-moving invader would give her time to open the safe and remove it. Now that I am in residence, I removed the .38 from the household. We haven't moved to our new home yet. When the time comes, the firearms will be well secured. She has a 6-yo granddaughter. I will be selling a few of the guns, locking up the rest.
DeleteAs for my home being more likely to attract troublemakers, that's part of life. I have a car, thus I am subject to having it stolen. I gave Susan a nice wedding ring set, same thing. You pay your money, take your chances.
(CBS News) The rush for new legislation on gun control after a shooter killed 26 victims at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school last month may be starting to decelerate on Capitol Hill, CBS News White House correspondent Major Garrett reports.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57563793/is-the-rush-for-stricter-gun-laws-over/
A new Gallup poll released Monday shows 38% of Americans are dissatisfied with current gun laws and support stricter proposals. That is a 13 percentage point jump from a year ago.
ReplyDeleteCNN
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Isn't it interesting how liberal CNN reports things? The narrative on the poll also could have been written-62% of the respondents are satisfied with current gun laws.
The liberal propaganda just never stops.
DeleteI had this conversation with a gentleman today, probably one of Mr. Bucky's contemporaries. The office TV was on and they were discussing the recent gun buyback program in Greensboro.
ReplyDeleteThe gentleman remarked that buyback programs made no sense since only law abiding people not criminals would participate. I replied to him that many people realize that you are probably more likely to harm yourself of one of your love ones if you have a gun in your house than you are to take out an intruder. He replied that he had been to gun shows and had guns all his life and he didn't believe that a gun filled household posed a greater threat than a non gun household.
I replied to him that just take for example the people in this building all 4 of us at the time. One of us lost our father when his second wife shot him and then killed herself. Anther one of us had her mother shoot her father leaving a residual bullet in his head. Years later he fell and hit his head they could not do an MRI because of the bullet He later died from the head injury. No one knows for sure if the MRI would have been helpful, but there was no way to perform the imaging technique the physician said could provide the best diagnostic information because of the bullet.
I repeat there were 4 people in the building. 50% lost love
ones prematurely directly or partial due to the fact there were firearms in the household. These individuals lived and died right here in Forsyth County.
Let's hear it for the gun!
Nobody, likes to hear stories like you've just told, not even a hard a-- like me Wordly.
DeleteHowever, most of us do not live in a fantasy world. Well, maybe Rush does. Nonetheless, the stark reality is there are millions upon millions of guns all over the world. Because we live in a global society, we can't escape those facts or guns no matter how many well intentioned laws we pass.
What the Democrats and Obama have done is to make matters worse. There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of people that are buying those 'assault' rifles that don't even need or want them. They're doing it on the 'threat' of the government taking them away.
Gander Mountain 'Gun World' is packed everyday. I've heard the same thing is happening all over the country. People are hoarding ammunition, and they're buying guns whose names that can't even pronounce.
And it goes on and on. The horse is out of the barn people! I don't understand why Democrats don't understand that. It's much like our immigration issue. We've got 11 million illegals here, and more than 250 million guns. Hello!
Get over it. It's too late.
News from New York State:
ReplyDelete"The legislative package, according to a state official, would make New York the first state to ban any gun magazine that can hold over 7 rounds of ammunition — the current limit is 10 rounds — and the first to require background checks of ammunition buyers and alerts to law enforcement of high-volume purchases."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/nyregion/new-york-legislators-hope-for-speedy-vote-on-gun-laws.html?_r=0
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Most any fool can see where this is headed.
Plus, Cuomo, a 2016 presidential hopeful, is in a 'hurry' to get this passed. He doesn't want people to find out what's actually in it before it's passed.
DeleteWhere have we heard this before.