Letters: Bipartisan gun deal is deeply flawed
The celebrated "bipartisan gun deal" is deeply flawed. The law is missing a key component to prevent misuse. If this law included a specific strong penalty for misuse, it could accomplish its goals without violating Second Amendment rights.
Anyone who knows your name can report you, and you can lose your right to bear arms without due process. In states where the goal is to deny guns to law-abiding citizens, the penalty for falsely reporting someone will be minor, and the process to regain your rights will be impossible. We must demand Ohio legislators set serious penalties for misuse of this law.
Leslie Felton, Green Township
Beware the tyranny of the minority
I urge everyone to read Max Boot's June 25 column in The Washington Post, titled "The Supreme Court's rulings represent the tyranny of the minority." He states that while many know the founding fathers feared the tyranny of the majority, Alexander Hamilton also feared the tyranny of the minority. We see this in our government today, and this is why our new laws often do not represent the views of most Americans.
For example, although 65% of Americans want much more strict gun regulations, we can't even get universal gun background checks or the raising of the age to purchase an AR-15. Boot points out that 21 states with fewer total people than California have 42 Senate seats, while California itself has only two. This undemocratic system has produced our current U.S. Supreme Court. Gerrymandering has also produced state governments that pass laws that the majority of the states' citizens oppose.
I suggest that we in Ohio take advantage of the referendum to let the people change these laws so that democracy can prevail.
Patricia Basler, Reading
Besides high weeds, garbage, city roads in bad shape, too
Rick Messinger is absolutely correct in his June 26 letter to the editor, "High weeds, garbage, faded sign greet visitors to Cincinnati." I will also add the deplorable condition of the non-interstate roads. I live one mile from the city line, and cross into and out of the city almost anywhere I go. There are various "Welcome to Cincinnati" signs, but they are all unnecessary, as the vast deterioration of the roads make it immediately apparent the city line has been crossed. Now the roads in Green and Springfield townships are nothing to brag about, but there is no comparison to the city. So, yes, Mayor Pureval, why don't you do something that you have control over?
D. Thomas Terwilliger, Monfort Heights
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Letters: Bipartisan gun deal is deeply flawed
