Winston-Salem Journal LTE SA 12/29/12

Readily available

Our species has devised efficient ways of killing people: the hangman's noose, the guillotine, sawed-off shotguns, assault rifles, handguns.

But among the civilized nations, only America has made some of these devices so readily available as to be a public health problem and a threat to its children.

The NRA says we need more handguns to make schools safer. That would be funny if it weren't so tragically wrong.

ROBERT MERRITT

WINSTON-SALEM

Support for gun control

Right now there is support for some laws protecting citizens from gun violence. Presumably, background checks would be more thorough; gun owners required to have and renew permits attesting to their competence, mental health and lack of criminal records; and both semi-automatic weapons and large ammunition magazines would be banned from sale in stores, at gun shows or on the Internet.

At some point, however, there should be a serious discussion of the interpretation of the Second Amendment. Surely an individual does not make up 'a well-regulated militia.' At the time of the writing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the guns available were the muzzle-loaded musket and the flintlock pistol, long guns (c. 5') that fired a single lead ball, having been primed for each firing with gun powder dropped down the barrel. These were the weapons possessed by the people who participated in their local 'well-regulated militias.' The incongruence of applying the Second Amendment to the possession of the full range of weapons currently available would be ludicrous, were the dangers not so horrific and pathetic. There is no humor in this situation.

It is time that our thinking and our laws recognize that we live in the 21st century, not the 18th, and time for our legislators to enact law consistent with reality.

KATHERINE MCGINNIS WINSTON-SALEM

Collective insanity

Recent news conferences with House Speaker John Boehner and NRA President Wayne La Pierre made me cringe with anger, fear and sorrowful resignation.

Fear that the tea party Republican members of the House cannot even recognize when they have won a victory, sealing extraordinarily low tax rates for the wealthiest at the expense of 90 percent of all Americans, including most tea partiers. They're willing to derail the economic recovery on 'principle.' Anger that the NRA is so powerful and arrogant that it can actually propose setting up armed camps in our schools and are ready to start training and arming the school enforcers.

Sorrowful resignation because I am not surprised.

What else should I expect from a country with 300 million guns already in circulation? A country that foregoes universal performance driven medical coverage in favor of the costliest for-profit health care in the world; that spends more on defense than most of the rest of the world combined; that decided 30 years ago to stop taxing multimillionaires at the margin and let the wealthiest 1 percent double their share of America's wealth while the bottom 80 percent lost 20 percent; that allowed Wall Street to get too big to fail and quickly bailed it out when it did fail to save us all.

A country that now expects the 90 percent who have already lost their American dream to bear the brunt of paying back all the debt accumulated to the benefit of the very few.

RICHARD B. HILTON

ADVANCE

Guns don't kill people

Gun advocates say 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people.' They leave out the rest of that axiom, 'but people with guns kill more people than people without guns.' When I go to a theater or to the mall, is a deranged gunman going to appear and start shooting? What concerns me even more is the possibility of being caught in the crossfire between him and legal but poorly trained citizens who have gotten concealed gun permits. That would mean even more bullets whizzing through the air.

I'm not advocating the ban of all guns, but we need to look at what is out there. No one needs assault-type weapons. No one needs high-capacity magazines for their guns. What we do need is the strengthening of and more stringent enforcement of existing laws.

A member of Congress said that if the teachers in Sandy Hook Elementary School had been armed this tragedy could have been averted. This scares me. Is this the solution we seek, an America where we expect our teachers to become combatants in gun battles using inferior weapons against heavily armed and crazed assailants who ought not to have access to guns in the first place?

Let's sit down with logic, reason and common sense to reach a decision to further reduce the possibility of our children being harmed in the future. And let's do it now.

RICHARD SIMMONS

WINSTON-SALEM

Punishment

The disaster in Newtown, Conn., is the result of God punishing us for 'taking prayer out of schools?' It seems more likely that God would be punishing us for allowing guns on the streets.

BETHANY PARE

WINSTON-SALEM

Preventing horrors

Two thoughts about the tragedy in Newtown, Conn.: There is something fundamentally wrong with our society, which fosters these unspeakable atrocities. But we are also doing something right. For each of these horrors, many are being prevented; we just don't know it.

What was it that prevented other disturbed people from acting out? Was it a parent who noticed a change in a child and did something about it? Was it an astute teacher or school counselor who called in a child for a friendly chat? Was it a gun salesman who felt suspicious and denied the sale of a weapon? We have to find out what we are doing right and how to share that with others.

Here's what might work. Challenge our universities to do the best analysis in the world to discover how to prevent these horrors. Have the university create a Simpson-Bowles type map of what to look for and what to do about it. For example:

. Ban the purchase of assault weapons;

. Have trained mental-health professionals in each school;

. Have an armed law-enforcement officer at a desk near the main entrance to each school;

. Create a procedure for teachers and parents to act on and clearly identify each step.

These are just a few examples. The universities must do the research and analysis. We don't need our government in this process to bog it down. We can do this ourselves.

KEN JADOFF

WINSTON-SALEM

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.

'New Year's resolutions are …'

Winston-Salem Journal LTE FR 12/28/12

More guns

More guns to solve our gun-violence problems? That's like a 19th-century quack doctor who prescribes leeches, and when told the patient is getting worse, says “More leeches.”

DAVID HATCHER

Winston-Salem

Making a difference

The recent horrific catastrophe in Connecticut has brought many thoughts and questions into mind. This is probably the most senseless tragedy in my 70 years on this earth and I wonder what the cause of all this violence is. What/who can we blame? Is it government, parents, television, guns that don't shoot themselves, drugs, computers, pornography or the Godless society we have evolved into?

It is a combination of all these things that has created the complex problems we are facing. It does involve drugs, guns, video games that teach violence, the removal of God from our everyday lives and certainly the mental-health issue. Mental-health assistance is very hard to acquire and is grossly underfunded. Even after families recognize someone's need for help, it seems that a tragedy must occur before the assistance needed can be administered. The Michael Hayes case is a very good and graphic example of this situation.

We wonder why help is not more readily available since most all of these incidents are caused by the mentally ill. All of these things have developed into a very dangerous “New World” culture we live in.

So, we as a society need to ask ourselves: “What can I do to make a difference?” Remember, one woman, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, was able to get organized prayer removed from our schools. Maybe we should consider what the Bible teaches in James 4:7, that if we submit ourselves to God and resist the devil, he will flee from us.

JESSE ADAMS

Winston-Salem

A safety suggestion

I recently emailed one of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school-board members regarding a suggestion I have to keep kids safe in our schools. This was, of course, because of the recent massacre in Newtown, Conn.

Since the school board cannot afford school resource officers in all elementary and middle schools, I am suggesting charging a “protection fee” for each student and teacher in all schools. I feel confident that if each student/teacher/administrator/employee in the system were charged a nominal fee of $25-$50 per person (actual amount would be determined by number of people in system vs. cost of armed security), that would be enough to pay for the program. I am sure parents and/or grandparents would be very willing to pay for the protection of their loved ones. And, if by chance there are families who can't afford the fee, the additional money collected from students who already have SROs would cover the cost of those students.

I hope my suggestion will be taken seriously. We do not need to continue to have our kids at the mercy of some deranged person who could walk into any school at any time and massacre people before anything could be done about it. I truly believe that an armed professional at the door of our schools would be a great deterrent to any person thinking about attacking innocent children.

KAREN HOLDER

Kernersville

Finger-pointing

Let the finger-pointing commence. Everybody’s busy blaming the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., on whatever they were already against: guns, mental illness, atheists, video games, pornography, same-sex marriage, culture or sugary sodas.

But we don’t know all the facts yet. Even if one’s chosen scapegoat turns out to be responsible for this incident, it doesn’t mean that the same scapegoat is responsible for all such incidents.

I wish everyone would just shut up and think about it for a couple months before spouting off — especially those holier-than-thou TV preachers and preacher/politicians, who see opportunity in tragedy and are eager to exploit it.

RICKY S. PHILLIPS

Winston-Salem

Conclusions

The writer of the letter “Irony” (Dec. 16) concludes, “the real war on women plays out daily in the lyrics of hip hop music and its culture.” My, what a wide brush she paints with.

I can likewise conclude: the real war on sobriety and faithfulness plays out daily in the lyrics of country music and its culture.

Because if you’ve heard one country song, you’ve heard them all, right?

DONNY MARTIN

Winston-Salem

Sum It Up

The Sum It Up question from Sunday was: Has 2012 been a good year?

Well, I was disappointed in the election, our family survived a serious health issue, I am a year older, the inmates are still in charge of the asylum in D.C. and our troops are still not home.

But we survived, the country will survive and with hope our military will get to come home soon. In fact, there were so many more blessings than problems and God was always there, so I have to quote Sinatra: “it was a very good year.”

KEN HOGLUND

Winston-Salem Journal LTE TH 12/27/12

Heartbreak

The time has come to re-enact the ban on assault weapons. The NRA embarrassed itself with its outrageous plan to put an armed guard in every school. Even if that would solve the problem in the schools (which it wouldn't), it would not solve the problem in movie theaters, shopping centers, offices, etc., etc. And the cost of the NRA plan would be enormous. We don't solve our gun problem with more guns.

Our nation has endured heartbreak after heartbreak resulting from the use of assault weapons on innocents. Please let our elected representatives know that we have had enough.

WILLIAM A. DAVIS

Winston-Salem

No easy solutions

Predictably, the Journal's invitation to comment on the terrible school shooting (“Finish the Thought,” Dec. 20) produced the usual lame liberal responses: blame the NRA, the gun manufacturers, the culture of violence, assault weapons, et al. Another prospective is required.

As I watched the Winston-Salem State University Rams play on ESPN, I thought of the wonderful influence Coach Connell Maynor has had on his young men. Imagine the gall of this man, at a public university, to exhort his players to believe that “God is good all the time,” that the Almighty expects their best efforts and that they will be rewarded for their hard work. Imagine a man who expects his players to believe in God's grace and believe in themselves. I know that Big House Gaines, in the company of the Lord, smiles.

There are no easy solutions. But if more of these disaffected, sullen young punks with attitudes could fall under the influence of men like Connell Maynor, there would be less murder and mayhem.

Alas, WSSU was outscored. But not outclassed.

HARRY R. COOKE

Winston-Salem

Supporting our community

Thanks to the writer of the letter “Altruism in our community” (Dec. 19), the junior at Reagan High School who joined her friends in volunteering to “ring” for the Salvation Army. She is obviously learning the value of supporting our community by not only giving of her time and money but also writing to request donations.

Unfortunately, the point of her letter was to criticize those who walked by without donating. With hope, in hindsight, she will understand that many of us donate to other equally worthy/needy causes, are volunteers ourselves, and have perhaps dropped a large donation in one bucket rather just giving small change to each one. Showing thanks and exchanging pleasantries will serve her much better than expressing criticism.

Thanks to her and all the volunteers in our community who work to take care of those with special needs.

JAN COLLINS

Clemmons

Troublesome rationalization

Everyone is trying to make some sense out of the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., and there are plenty of opinions about why it occurred. But I’ve heard one rationalization repeated that I find it troublesome: the idea that the massacre took place because prayers have been banned from schools.

Are people really suggesting that God destroyed those children in a fit of spite or to teach us all a lesson? I'd hate to think there exists a God so monstrous.

Are they suggesting that God stood back and allowed a maniac to slaughter 20 innocents because the school they attended didn't lead them in prayer? I'd hate to think God would be that cruel or petty.

Of course, the notion is also troublesome because its premise is really not true. These people seem to forget that the only thing banned is school-led prayer. Students are free to pray on their own and plenty do. And they can also pray at home before and after school and they can pray at church. But because their teachers cannot lead them in prayer during the six hours they are in school the children deserved to die? Is this what we are being told?

I sincerely hope not, though it sounds very much like it.

MATTHEW S. SPAIGHT

Winston-Salem

Finish the Thought

Saturday, we asked readers to complete the sentence: “The holiday season is the perfect time to …”

“… curl up in front of the fire with a Nero Wolfe mystery.”

HELEN ETTERS

“… go into the Witness Protection Program.”

ANNE CHAPMAN

“... inflate toys and assemble IKEA furniture.”

JAN HUGOSSON

“… put Christ back in Christmas and schools. Teach people and students to honor Christ and have respect for human life.”

JAMES P. SELIGMAN

“… think about others and help those in need. This should be something we do all year round, and not just during the holiday season.”

KELLIENE FISHER

“… learn to meditate.”

ROBYN MIXON

“… to remember, reminisce, reflect and pray.

“Remember those not here, reminisce on the good things we have enjoyed, reflect on the many blessings we have and earnestly pray for God's guidance in the future.

“Remember those we have failed and ask their forgiveness, reminisce with those we are out of touch or angry with, reflect on how better to mend fences, when we were wrong and pray earnestly for forgiveness and the strength to be better.”

KEN HOGLUND

Winston-Salem Journal WE 12/26/12

Right to speak

Only in the fevered mind of the abortion opponent does a citizen’s right to speak find its full and righteous expression in not speaking at all.

The writer of the Dec. 18 letter “Right to life” believes that she should have the right to purchase a “Choose Life” license plate, even though “Respect Choice” plates or such are not available for opponents. She writes: “Abortion advocates have the constitutional right to not buy the license plates for their cars while respecting the constitutional right of pro-life advocates to purchase them.” In other words, pro-choice proponents get to practice their free speech by having no say at all.

If that’s true, then so is this: The government can sponsor “I’m a proud Democrat” license plates. But, no, we don’t need “I’m a proud Republican” plates. Anyone who doesn’t share the sentiment has the constitutional right to not buy them while respecting the constitutional right of Democrats to purchase them.

Likewise, the government can sponsor “Choose Allah” plates. Anyone who disagrees has the constitutional right to not buy them. But, no, they don’t need “Choose Jesus” plates.

Judge James Fox made the right call. If one side of the abortion debate is to be allowed government endorsement, then the other should, also.

The writer refers to “erroneous interpretations and decisions and others who attempt to advance an agenda …” but that’s just blather. Her side lost and she doesn’t like it. But the judge’s ruling is simply fair.

C.L. JOHNSON

Winston-Salem

It’s opinion

From reading the editorial pages in the Journal every day it seems that most of the letters are from mean-spirited liberals who spew venom and lies about their conservative and Republican counterparts. Come on, people, your man won the election, so back off, please.

I am a lifelong conservative Republican and I don't watch Fox News. In fact, I don't watch any news because whether it’s Fox or their beloved MSNBC or CNN, it’s not news, it’s opinion, and I, like the majority of my friends, can think for myself. I don't need cable news to think for me.

ERVIN WALLER

Advance

Assault weapons

I am so tired of hearing that law-abiding citizens will be “punished” for the actions of criminals if assault weapons are banned. Assault weapons.

First of all, the name itself implies just that: Assault! Secondly, “punishment” implies dreadful and horrendously painful suffering and loss. Is the assault-weapon collector really going to feel that much pain and loss? (Read it: collector, as in “collection,” as in “not for use” in defense of self or country.) The owner of the assault weapon used in the assault of the children in Newtown, Conn., was the first to be assaulted with her own assault weapon. The assault weapon wasn't used to defend anyone, nor anyone's property. It was used to assault the defenseless.

Yes, we do have the right to “bear” arms; we should not, however, have the right to “bare” assault weapons.

ANGIE MENDEZ

Winston-Salem

No safe harbor

I, like many others, find myself deeply saddened and troubled by the events that occurred recently in Connecticut. I am distressed that I live in a society that pays so little attention and support to some of its most vulnerable members, those suffering with severe, chronic mental illnesses. TV and newspaper headlines question what could be the possible motive for such behavior. This seems to miss the point that psychotic behavior does not have a neat, rational motive. Psychosis reflects a state of human suffering that is entirely uncertain and unpredictable.

The sensory, perceptual and cognitive distortions that the psychotic brain tries to deal with lead people to protect themselves in the most primitive ways and represent the chaos and fear of those who are afflicted. Why do we have such trouble understanding this?

When the state hospitals closed their doors to those with severe, chronic illness, many were left with no safe harbor, no community to be a part of in which they can feel both accepted and safe. Of course, the combination of easy access to assault weapons and the underserving of those suffering with severe mental illness create a perfect opportunity for the proliferation of psychotic chaos. It is time to change our priorities; it is time to care.

AARON POLLER

Winston-Salem

Weapons of mass destruction

Assault weapons are personal weapons of mass destruction. They should be categorized with nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Governments are usually in charge of such weapons, not to promote tyranny, but to have enough checks and balances to avoid the use(s) of them.

There are no such checks and balances in the civilian world for assault weapons. They go way beyond personal protection and/or hunting and should not be issued to individuals any more than should a nuclear bomb be issued to individuals.

BOBBY LOCKE AND DEBBIE ANDERSON LOCKE

Winston-Salem

Senseless killings

These senseless killings continue. When will our leaders do something? When will they put politics aside and stand tall against the NRA? How does one comprehend killing in such a vicious way their mother and young, innocent children? Perhaps one of these kids would have developed a cure for cancer. We will never know.

I challenge Rep. Virginia Foxx to let us know her position and what she plans to do regarding this matter. Be a leader.

I support our Second Amendment right to bear arms but feel there should be limitations and a national gun-control policy. We also have freedom of speech, but that does not mean someone can yell “fire” in a crowded theater.

Military assault weapons should be banned immediately. I own guns and have a concealed carry permit but feel strongly that assault weapons should not be accessible. Will someone eventually purchase a rocket launcher and bring down a commercial aircraft?

Our government should immediately initiate a study of commonalities between these mass murderers. What prescription “mood-altering” drugs were they taking? Listen to the television advertisements these days, with brief description of what drugs do for you and then lengthy dissertation on the side effects. How do prescription drugs known to “alter moods” and cause even death on rare occasions get approved for use?

Neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney was willing to stand tall on gun control during the campaign. The election is now over. Time now to do something!

CLARENCE PEOPLES

Clemmons

Winston-Salem Journal LTE Christmas Day, 2012

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas everybody! It's that wonderful time of the year when the Holy Spirit sends us a little extra magic and joy. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, there are still people out here who need you. Everyone needs someone to care and help them feel loved.

We all have it within us to ease someone's burden. Sometimes all it takes is a kind word or even a smile; others need food, clothing, some help with bills, a blanket or just a night off from the kids, help with a sick family member or a simple hug for someone grieving. We all know someone to help and if not, ask around or volunteer.

I'm fixing to curl up with my granddaughter, our popcorn and a box of tissues to watch some Christmas classics. You probably think I have it made just sitting around giving out advice, but that's not quite true. I have no immune system so I can't leave home or have company; I am swimming in medical bills, I can't breathe without an oxygen tank, and am facing more surgery next week. That is a far cry from the electrician I once was. I miss my family's big get-together. I miss church.

But ... it's Christmas! The season of hope! Maybe it will snow! We have survived another insane year.

So please give, share, rekindle old friendships, call on the elderly, or hand someone a homemade card and a sandwich. Be joyous, it's Christmas!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

TERI LU WILSON MABE

Walkertown

Return

Jesus returns for his people. Satan rules now, but he knows he has only a short time.

CHRIS MITCHELL

Lexington

Final column

Lenox Rawlings’ final column for the Journal (“Time to move on; a new season beckons,” Dec. 16) was simply a further testimonial to his reputation as one of the nation’s finest sportswriters. I have read his columns since 1996 after moving into this area and have always admired the consistently high standards of his writing.

His perceptions, insights, honesty and remarkable skill with words are unsurpassed.

Wherever Rawlings winds up after “floating downstream a little ways,” I wish him good luck and Godspeed.

JACK B. LUCAS

Winston-Salem

The mainstream

Conservatives get upset with the “mainstream media” because, apparently, they don’t make enough outrageous claims about President Obama. I’m sure Time magazine choosing Obama as its Person of the Year for 2012 isn’t going to help.

But here’s the thing: Mainstream media news reporters at least try to be impartial, which is more than hard-core conservatives can even claim with straight faces. And when the mainstream media criticize the president, it’s for something real and verifiable (thus, no claims that Obama is moving the White House to Mars).

The mainstream media tend to get the basic facts right. And they’re educated, smart people, whom the most cursory examination shows to be better writers and thinkers (not to mention spellers) than their tea-party critics.

All in all, I think I’ll stick with the brand-name news sources rather than the, um, “fringes.”

MARY DAIMORE

Winston-Salem

A father’s legacy

Last week my father and I took one last tour together of Union Station. And my father, Harvey Davis, small-business owner and proprietor of Union Station for 37 years, handed over the keys to the city. He may have felt sentimental about the Grand Ol’ Gal as their time together was now limited.

And why not? They had spent every day together since he rescued her in the early 1970s. The two had much in common. They were both aging but no worse for wear; still committed to work every day despite not being at their peak of youth; and both showing tremendous grace in the light of changing times.

During a pause in the bomb shelter, we discovered a 1955 train travel log that listed people that I would never meet. The log, a bit of Winston-Salem history intact, was in pristine condition.

May my father’s time there be remembered as that of a faithful, trusted steward of Union Station. He envisioned her purposeful again when all others seemed to have been done with her. The legacy left to us, his children, will be his strong work ethic; his kind heart and generosity of spirit multiplied in spades; and yes, kindness extended to a magnificent structure because he believed it was worthy to be preserved.

For me, his daughter, my father’s legacy will extend from an intangible, indelible goodness; greater than brick and mortar and more than any eminent domain can take away.

PAMELA DAVIS

Winston-Salem Journal LTE MO 12/24/12

Another group grieves

I suppose a lot of us cried ourselves to sleep after the shooting on Newtown, Conn. And will perhaps more nights to come.

But, grieve for one group I haven't even seen mentioned: the grandparents.

Thankfully our grandchildren have all reached adulthood. But we would be devastated if something happened to one of them.

Those who haven't been a proud, doting grandparent, may not understand. Pray that if you get to be one, you won't have to grieve like the ones in Newtown are doing now.

God bless the little children. And comfort the grieving survivors.

CHARLIE WEAVER

Winston-Salem

Two points

I would like to raise two points in regard to the editorials in the Dec. 15 Journal. First, in regard to “Out of outrage should come action” and addressing violence, you say that “… what is certain now is that nothing is working.” But, in fact, there are programs that are working and we need to build on those.

Most of these incidents involve people with mental-health problems. Yet North Carolina cut funds for teaching assistants who can work with individual students for early intervention. And North Carolina cut funds for mental-health programs. Let's change our priorities and expand and support those things that are working to give individuals the help they need.

Second, in regard to “Focus must turn from growth to helping students graduate,” you note that, “The UNC system is also going to add incentives for better performance that will tie funding to each university's ability to meet certain criteria ...” Let's make sure that those funds are used to help the weaker programs strengthen and not punish them for not meeting the criteria by withdrawing funds and rewarding the programs that already are stronger, ala “No Child Left Behind,” so that they slip even farther behind.

EDWARD O'CONNOR

Pinnacle

Part of a solution

We are all very saddened by what happened in Newtown, Conn. The question the president raised is very important. We know from the war on drugs and prohibition that we are not very good at regulating or prohibiting the purchase of stuff people want. I think the lesson from tobacco might be the wiser approach.

Impose a very large and substantial tax on any gun that can shoot more than two bullets without reloading. Make this tax $2,000 or $3,000 per gun payable at sale, and have it involve all gun transactions — even to family members. If a gun is found where the ownership transferred, without tax payment, both the owner and seller should pay triple the tax. In addition, tax bullets at $50 per bullet.

All the proceeds from the tax would be used to pay for mental-health services and increased protection in schools.

This will not fix the problem, but it should be considered part of a solution. What we do know is that taxes influence behavior.

None of us want another Newtown and we must deal with the arms race within this nation soon, before it consumes us.

PAUL McLAUGHLIN

Winston-Salem

Two for tragedy

Evolution is a slow process. Let's start with restrictions on graphic violence as a form of overtly innocuous entertainment for the young and also restrict automatic weapons. Those two add up to tragedy — it seems that almost if not all of the massacre perpetrators loved these video games.

Everyone has too easy access to weapons of mass destruction to indulge a violent impulse — especially teenage boys who have more testosterone than they will for the rest of their lives.

These games are made to reach deep in our brains. I've only played one, and the lights flickered in my head for the rest of the day. I've watched kids play them, nonchalantly, as if killing a human was a walk in the park.

TONY TAMER

Winston-Salem

Protection

I am mourning, with most of America, the recent murders of 20 children and six adults at the elementary school in Connecticut. The media at first stated the killer used two semi-automatic pistols and the police found an "assault rifle" in the shooter's mother’s car. There will be a call for banishment of all "assault weapons" now.

If this happens who will protect the individual homes? Most would say law officers. When is the last time a law officer has been present at a crime as it is being perpetuated?

Every weapon in the hands of a mentally disturbed individual is an "assault weapon." The last four school and movie-theater shootings were done by mentally disturbed individuals. The day weapons are confiscated will be the day the federal bureaucracy will start overturning the Constitution.

Think about it: The last four shootings were at locations where firearms were banned.

JOHN A. REDDING

Lewisville

Winston-Salem Journal LTE SU 12/23/12

Hard to understand

I just want to say that I do hope that something is done about gun control. The tragedy in Newtown, Conn., has saddened me so. I don't know any of them personally, but that doesn't matter. How can anyone have a happy Christmas after this?

I can't get it out of my mind. I get so angry every time I see or hear anything that the pro-gun people say. None of their comments make sense. They think guns are for protection, but no human, with the exception of law enforcement and the military, needs an automatic weapon. Maybe a pistol for protection; I understand that. Maybe a gun for hunting; I can even understand that. But as long as there are mentally unstable people out there, and there always will be, unless something is changed, they will find a way to get their hands on a weapon that is capable of killing many innocent people.

Something has to be done. Enough really is enough.

SUSAN SANDIFER

Advance

Moving on

A chilly and rainy Sunday morning, coffee brewed and a little fire crackling in the kitchen woodstove, dogs snoozing at my feet — a perfect time for my Sunday ritual before church. Sunday paper, toast, grits and coffee. Sometimes I cheat and only glance at the front page before racing to the editorial page or the sports front. I read half of Lenox Rawlings’ column (“Time to move on; a new season beckons,” Dec. 16) and heaved a long, sad sigh that scared the dogs.

I’m an uneducated man. College wasn’t much of an option. Graduating from high school is murky. (I didn’t, but they’re proud of me so they say I did.) But I studied hard. Mainly, I studied Lenox Rawlings. His work was quiet, thoughtful, crisply incisive — and always remarkably subtle. I watched him like a hawk. My wife used to stumble into the kitchen, smelling the coffee, to find me dissecting Rawlings’ paragraphs, diagramming his sentence structures. Lenox Rawlings knew what he was doing and I didn’t have an inkling of what was up or down.

We weren’t close, mainly for the sake of my piddling little ego — and Rawlings’ gracious and affable demeanor was so different from my hot-headedness. But he could write. Lord, he could write, so clearly that I forgave him the cardinal sin of golfing.

I’ll echo Rawlings’ praise for helpful editors like Joe Goodman and the indomitably good-natured Terry Oberle.

See what it’s like downstream, Lenox. And tell us what you find.

GUY NEAL WILLIAMS

Winston-Salem

Explaining

On the eve of the recent school shooting in Connecticut I watched and listened to an on-site reporter of one of our corporate-owned television networks as he pondered how the parents of the children who didn't get shot were going to explain the massacre to them.

Don't tell them anything. Secure National Rifle Association memberships for all of those children and let those NRA rascals explain it to them.

KENNETH B. SCALF

Mocksville

Sum It Up

Has 2012 been a good year?

Correspondent of the week: Pursuing deeper solutions

Deb Phillips

In the wake of the horrific massacre of innocents in Newtown, Conn., our nation must pursue deeper solutions than simply further regulating firearms and ammunition.

Instead of striking a severe blow to the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, our nation must grapple with the glorification of violence and death in the entertainment industry, the alarming causes and effects of the breakup of families, the negligent or ineffectual treatment of the mentally ill and the culture’s increasing repudiation of spiritual and traditional values.

We must address mental-health and educational-privacy laws that interfere with the treatment and reporting of potentially violent mentally ill individuals. States must diligently submit pertinent mental illness and criminal records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

And because criminals do not obey gun laws, we must question the designation of “gun-free” zones — typically schools, shopping malls and theaters — which render innocent, unarmed people as convenient targets for criminals and the mentally deranged with death wishes.

Very importantly, we must ensure that no new gun-control measures will diminish the right of law-abiding citizens to adequately defend themselves in both public and private venues.

Individuals with ravaged hearts and minds wield guns or knives, stones or clubs, improvised explosive devices or suicide vests. Let us not — out of pain or politics — simply slap a “gun control” Band-Aid over our nation’s deeply wounded soul, while rendering even more innocent people defenseless through a knee-jerk assault on the Second Amendment.

DEB PHILLIPS

Lewisville