Letters and feedback: May 29, 2022
Do mass murders matter to lawmakers?
These tragic events are not just “school shootings," and I refuse to call them that. They are mass murders, along with mass murders in buildings of worship, stores and other public buildings, and at outdoor events.
There is a category of mass murderer who will not be stopped by mental health examinations or by limiting firearm capacity. Several of the mass murderers have come from this category: the shooter who takes weapons from his family's home. We have laws requiring that weapons be kept secure — but they're not. All our current firearm laws are capable of being broken.
After every one of these mass murders, public outrage forces legislators to compose laws that will keep the NRA happy. Their first legislative rule is no limiting weapons of mass destruction; the second is deflection. Their answer is to do something about mental health, so they enact a law but don’t fund it.
Our existing mental health resources cannot take care of the needs of our population, not just in Florida but throughout the country. So, if the states are not going to put money into mental health resources, let them at least put it into protection of our children. One or two officers in each school won't be enough — have the governors order the National Guard into the schools; two per classroom, plus five to 10 roaming, depending on the size of the school.
As for the rest of us, may God protect us.
Legislators’ inaction on realistic solutions begs the question: Do they really want to protect their constituents?
Ann Coburn, Cocoa
Comment shows complete disrespect
It is time for Palm Bay, Brevard County and the Republican Party to collectively and unanimously divest themselves of the Randy Fine embarrassment.
He has gone way beyond common decency, showing complete disrespect for the horror that happened in Uvalde, Texas.
Time for both parties to come together and start doing work for the good of the country and less for their personal bank accounts.
Garey Hartman, Melbourne
Schumer bills wouldn't stop crime
The May 26 article "Will Congress now act on guns?" in FLORIDA TODAY relates that Senate majority leader Schumer "set in motion a pair of firearms background-check bills" in reaction to the school shooting in Texas.
The shooter at Robb Elementary School in Texas, the shooter at the Buffalo grocery store, the shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school and the shooter at the Pulse nightclub all passed background checks. The shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary School used a rifle purchased by his mother so he was not subject to the check. This is typical of shooters who commit mass shootings.
The bills that Schumer proposes would do nothing to stop these crimes. What we can expect is that if more shootings occur, he would demand more restrictions even without any evidence that they would accomplish anything but imposing cost and inconvenience on law-abiding gun users. The result is an accumulation of burdensome regulations such as seen in New York, New Jersey and California that have little effect on crime.
The May 26 FLORIDA TODAY article "Closer look: What data about mass shootings teaches us" points out that shooters "often communicate their intent to do harm in advance."
The authors suggest, "The key to stopping these tragedies is for society to be alert to these warning signs and act on them immediately." This is more difficult to implement than blaming guns for the shootings so it is less attractive to legislators.
James Beasom, Melbourne Village
Ban this type of 'killing machine'
Every time I turn on the TV, they keep saying an 18-year-old shouldn't be able to buy an AR15-type gun. No one should be able to buy weapons of that category.
Oh no, it would upset all of these "collectors" and be against our Second Amendment rights, they insist. Well, if they are so insistent on going back to when the Second Amendment was added to the Constitution, they also should go back to the type of weapon that was available back in the 1700s. What a prize collector's item that would be. One of those old musket loaders where it took someone several minutes to reload after shooting it.
I don't know when it became possible for ordinary citizens to buy this kind of weapon but it should never be allowed, and every one of them should be confiscated from all owners of these killing machines.
We are becoming the most warlike country in the world, bar none. Being 93 years old, I have watched too many wars, too much bloodshed, and the disintegration of the ethical and moral identity we have been taught that is the American ideal. We need to get out the vote and oust everyone who is not in favor of gun control..Let's do it, people, before we launch the nuclear weapons which we've developed.
Talk about Second Amendment rights. How about the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for these poor little children? I think that should have more clout.
Ruth Ceike Meier, Melbourne
Using mental health to dodge issue
Do you notice that when officials like Gov. Abbott of Texas talk about mass shootings and gun deaths they report it’s “a problem with mental health illness"? Then they call for “more mental health support.”
It’s a dodge, a way to do nothing. In the Uvalde school shooting, Abbott also said that the community had mental health services. The shooter is reported to have had no mental health history.
I worked in the Brevard County Jail years ago, dealing with mental illness. Few inmates with serious charges like murder had any diagnosis of major mental illness such as schizophrenia. Those that did were often there on minor charges such as confusion and not following officers’ orders.
The strongest predictor of future violence is past violence. That is why we already have a rule against firearm possession in Florida. Felons are prohibited from gun ownership.
People with no history of gun violence, like the Texas killer, could possibly be identified by a psychiatric screening. But I don’t think it’s a reliable method.
The most effective method is to keep the most lethal weaponry out of the hands of most people. Let law enforcement and military workers work with guns. The average American is safer without them. A lot of problems are better solved without a quick draw, like feeling insulted, or being drunk. And especially prejudice and hate, way too popular today.
Stop using mental illness as an excuse for ineffective action.
Judy McCluney, Cocoa
Does the left truly want to play smart?
If the left were to play smart, they would: secure the southern border, build the wall, let the border patrols and ICE do their jobs. They would open the pipelines and drill the U.S. oil and make us energy independent again. (There is much more they could do.)
If they did these two things, they would most likely draw many Americans back to their support, and they might retain control of the House and Senate as well as capture the White House in 2024. But, apparently, they don’t want to play smart — or maybe they don’t know how. How sad.
Jan Johns, Suntree
First, it's Roe v. Wade ...
For the past month, not a day has gone by without hearing concerns about the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion, that, if adopted, will overturn Roe v. Wade. In my opinion, the 1973 decision will be overturned. I also believe that those who support overturning Roe v. Wade are the same people who want us to produce more babies, regardless of our willingness or ability to support them.
Once abortion becomes illegal, I suspect that contraception — including vasectomies — will, in time, also become illegal. As men, we know that for most of us, making a baby does not mean having a happy family with the white picket fence; more likely, years of court-ordered child support will be in our future.
Regardless of our politics, it's time for us men to think ahead and get that vasectomy before it, too, becomes illegal.
Michael Moakley, Melbourne
Renewable energy: Let's ask questions
It seems we are being led to a time when everything is electrical. In the right application, electrical has a clear advantage, such as in hand tools and yard equipment. No more hand-cranking gas power tools — hooray. But to try converting the entire auto and trucking industry to electrical, as Elon Musk and the U.S. government would have us do — I am not so sure.
I think of all the scenarios: You could become stuck in an EV, like in hurricane evacuations and blizzards, a clock ticking in your battery. Add the cost of a national infrastructure for charging stations to make the idea of EV’s practical and the worldwide environmental impact, mining the rare minerals required to build monster batteries. One wonders: Is there no other alternative? My question: Is this sustainable?
Sustainability is the question we all should be asking regarding renewable energy. On this, I am sure: We are heading in the wrong direction. There is nothing sustainable about solar panel farms and wind generator farms beyond 20 years. The cost of these projects is unthinkable. What happens when these things began to fail? There would be no renewable energy projects if not for government subsidies and tax credits. No business model on earth can show a profit from renewable energy projects without subsidies if all the cost from womb to tomb is included. All these projects will rely on taxpayers to pick up the tab.
Solar power is like manna from heaven. I am a great advocate of solar power in the right application.
Roland Norris, Cocoa Beach
Alternative energy and the future
For a while I was worried about the high cost of gasoline, and it is going higher. But I understand now and have no worries after hearing President Biden's comments, and I see the end in sight.
In a joint press conference during a joint press conference with Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden issued this pronouncement: "Here’s the situation. And when it comes to the gas prices, we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over."
The transition means alternative energy is here. And everyone has electric cars. But I think the transition may take 20 years to achieve. But oh well, the light at the end of the tunnel.
Jack Golden, Melbourne
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Letters and feedback: May 29, 2022
