Letters: Readers discuss Kansas liquor laws, JoCo pit bulls and MLB’s foul ball rules
Liquor police
Kansas is engaging in the most recent ugly trend in the liquor world, introducing laws under the guise of regulating the liquor market, even when these laws are unconstitutional.
Kansas has passed legislation to license out-of-state fulfillment houses. A fulfillment house provides a service to wineries that direct ship wine to consumers. Mainly, they store wine and get packages ready to put on a truck.
The fulfillment house gets paid for these services by the winery, not by the consumer in Kansas, and performs no services in Kansas. Under the Constitution, to become subject to state regulatory jurisdiction, a company must be “doing business” in a state. The “doing business” provision acts as a check on government regulatory power and ensures no government overreach.
Even though out-of-state fulfillment houses do not do business in Kansas, the state legislature still intends to license them.
Kansas politicians justify their actions based on the theory that there may be illegal wine shipments from fulfillment houses. But they must ask themselves: Is increasing the police state by violating constitutional norms the standard we want to set in a constitutional republic?
- Sean O’Leary, Elmhurst, Illinois
Make NRA pay
Police doing their duties, children going to school, employees working, everyday people out shopping — given the plethora of recent shootings, the least the National Rifle Association could do is pay for the reunification centers, counseling sessions and funerals enabled by its decades-long money grab.
On percent of its lobbying budget ought to about cover it.
- Larry Schaffer, Kansas City
Not the dogs
An April 7 “Johnson County Community News” item in The Star’s 913 newsmagazine (Page 2) noted that an Overland Park City Council member is questioning whether the city’s ban on pit bulls and similar dog breeds should be reconsidered.
Why can’t people understand that it is not the dogs, but their owners, who are the problem? It all comes down to how the dogs are raised.
I have been around pit bulls that were raised by good people, and I have no fear. We should be concerned about the riffraff who get these dogs and mistreat them by raising them to fight.
Our elected officials need to get smarter. Maybe we should eliminate the people, not the dogs.
- Sonja Shaffer, Overland Park
Global good
I have read recent coverage of the increased rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in Missouri with relief. Along with increased eligibility, we’re also seeing increased appointment availability, so more of us can have protection against the coronavirus.
Our darkest days are nearing an end as we enter a new pandemic phase. But the desperation we felt during this outbreak was comparable to the stress of people in low-income countries without access to immunizations Americans consider ordinary, such as measles shots. The measles and rubella vaccine costs less than $2 per child, yet in 2019, measles deaths surged to 207,500 because of declining vaccination rates in many countries. The pandemic only drove this number higher last year.
Even after your second COVID-19 vaccine, hang onto your frustration in solidarity with families around the world still needing routine immunizations, and take action. Reach out to Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley, as well as Reps. Emanuel Cleaver and Sam Graves. Urge them to fully fund global childhood immunization programs in the federal budget, including $290 million for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and $134 million for UNICEF.
Everyone in the world wants to be free of disease and fear.
- Cynthia Levin, Town and Country, Missouri
Move them on
Two strikes followed by three fouls, and you’re out. Nothing is more boring than watching some batter stand there fouling off eight (it seems like 16) balls in a row. If players are so good they can foul off pitches until they get the pitch they want, then they could hit on command. Major League Baseball should adopt this rule.
- Joe Beach, Kansas City
