Letters: Columbus needs to go after 'real criminals' instead of making questionable laws

Letters to the Editor
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Mar 7, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; With the city of Columbus banning 30-round gun magazines, L.E.P.D. Firearms & Range owner Eric Delbert holds a modified magazine that holds 29 rounds and the plastic single shot limiter that keeps it within the law. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch
Mar 7, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; With the city of Columbus banning 30-round gun magazines, L.E.P.D. Firearms & Range owner Eric Delbert holds a modified magazine that holds 29 rounds and the plastic single shot limiter that keeps it within the law. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch

Go after real criminals

Re "Columbus gun owners wary of ammunition restriction" March 8: Could someone please help me in the logic of banning 30 round gun magazines in Columbus?

Already, there is a shot limiter that keeps it at 29 rounds, keeping it legal to own. The easiest fix would be to keep them out of Columbus; law-abiding people will be those most affected.

More:Columbus gun owners wary of city's new ammunition restriction

Do you really think someone planning a shooting rampage would care about this law? And a mandatory jail time of 180 days, just for possessing this magazine, not even using it? How many actual crimes get less time than this law? Columbus, please go after real criminals instead of making these questionable new laws!

Brad Strominger, Etna

Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor

More:How to submit a letter to the editor for The Columbus Dispatch

Don't buy the propaganda

Feb 22, 2023; East Palestine, Ohio, USA; Layne Gruber, 8, of East Palestine holds a flag while waiting out the rain in a group waiting to see former President Donald Trump arrive in a motorcade. Mandatory Credit: Brooke LaValley/Columbus Dispatch
Feb 22, 2023; East Palestine, Ohio, USA; Layne Gruber, 8, of East Palestine holds a flag while waiting out the rain in a group waiting to see former President Donald Trump arrive in a motorcade. Mandatory Credit: Brooke LaValley/Columbus Dispatch

I'm the first in my family born outside Ohio since 1807 and I live in California. I have cousins in East Palestine.

If you search "train wrecks in California" you will find that railroads have killed us, poisoned our land and still do so regularly. The GOP has given the railroads a pass on safety regulations because they get so much money from them.

More:Here are the symptoms East Palestine residents reported experiencing in wake of derailment

Don't blame anyone but your elected officials who take railroad money and then scream about guns, gay people and God to distract you.

In the meantime, the railroads get away with murder. Look up their campaign contributions and for the sake of us all, vote them out. Don't buy the propaganda, just follow the money.

Robert Copper, Coronado, Calif.

Say hello to the machine

In the March 5 article "Senate votes for governor to control public education,” Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware) is quoted as saying "I believe that if we put the executive branch in charge of the department, we help as members of the General Assembly hold him and the department accountable through checks and balances."

For those unfamiliar with the jargon of big city or state power-grabs, allow me to translate. The executive in charge “the him” is known as “the boss” and “the department” is the “machine” run by political loyalists appointed by the “big boss.”

Look at The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio where executive in charge and all five commissioners are appointed by the governor. The result?

Dark money and dark deeds produced one of the largest political corruption scandals in state history costing Ohio utility users millions of dollars in rate hikes. Where are Brenner’s checks and balances?

More:Ohio Senate votes to give governor's office control over public education

The only true checks and balances on the Ohio Board of Education are the voices of board members elected by the voters not appointed by “the Boss.”

Currently 11 board members are elected and eight are appointed by the governor. If you want real accountability keep the public voices in the majority. If you are unhappy with the board vote in new board members, or better yet, run for election to the board yourself.

Joe Weidner, Columbus

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Letters: Columbus needs to go after 'real criminals'