How can you be pro life but against gun safety laws? Letters

How can you be pro life but anti-gun safety?

March 28 − To the Editor:

I’m trying to make sense out of the fact that so many politicians who claim to be pro life (AKA, anti abortion) are also pro gun. How is it possible to call one’s self pro life when they don’t give a darn about the life of the woman, or kid, who is carrying the child?

Six more people are dead from another school massacre, three of them nine years old. Do our gun enthusiasts care even a little about the lives of the nine-year-olds who witnessed this? They have been traumatized forever, not to mention the families of all the victims. Their lives matter!

Using common sense, let’s understand that anti abortion and pro life are opposing designations. Let’s also agree that banning automatic weapons will not diminish the Second Amendment’s “right to bear arms.” I have not heard or read anywhere that enhancing gun safety will take guns away from responsible citizens. They and their loved ones will be safer too!

Linda Tober

Exeter

Rally for gun safety legislation in Portsmouth, NH in June 2022.
Rally for gun safety legislation in Portsmouth, NH in June 2022.

Brighton must be kidding. It is time to remove profit from our healthcare.

March 28 − To the Editor:

Surely, I thought to myself as I read Mr. Brighton’s letter, he is being facetious when he writes, “We are Americans. It is our birthright to get everything immediately”. But is he? As I re-read the letter several times, I am not so sure. Hopefully this last line of his letter was in jest; otherwise it is the epitome of the “Ugly American”.

Moreover, instead of relying on “Dr. Google”, maybe Mr. Brighton should consult with those who receive universal health care and don’t have to pay extreme medical insurance premiums and deductibles. All of my friends who live in countries with universal healthcare are thankful they don’t have to worry about going bankrupt when they get sick, or worry about being denied medical treatment because they don’t have the right insurance. Healthcare in this country is run by the health insurance companies. It is time profit is removed from our medical care.

Bonnie Rodriguez

Hampton

I hope letter writer's comment about Americans' birthright was sarcastic

March 28 − To the Editor:

In Tuesday’s paper (03/28/2023) was a letter from a Mr. Brighton, the final sentence of which reads: “We are Americans. It is our birthright to get everything immediately.” Hopefully, he was being sarcastic, although the content of the letter, concerning medical care, indicated otherwise. If he was serious, he represents everything that is wrong with America. Was it our birthright to take this country from the Native Americans at the point of a gun? Did our “birthright” begin when white people from England and Germany and Spain came here in ships and viewed everything they saw as theirs?

Stephen Zanichkowsky

Portsmouth

I always thought it was disrespectful to change the colors of the flag

March 28 − To the Editor:

I always thought black flags were symbols of white supremacy and seeing them would immediately remind me of that.  After years as a military spouse I always thought it was disrespectful to change the colors of the flag or to display it in any other way than its original.  However, after doing a little research, and it was confusing, it seems that it means “take no prisoners, kill the enemy”. But no matter how we look at it, does the York Police Department want anything on their vehicles that could send a questionable meaning?  Especially, in these anger driven times.

Linda Harville

Eliot, Maine

Celebrating the International Transgender Day of Visibility

March 26 − To the Editor:

March 31 is the International Transgender Day of Visibility. It was founded in 2009 to honor the achievements and contributions of a large community of diverse individuals. The International Transgender Day of Visibility is a time to celebrate the lives and achievements of transgender individuals around the world and to recognize the bravery it takes to live openly and authentically. It is also a time to raise awareness of the discrimination and violence that the transgender community still faces, which makes it difficult and even unsafe or fatal for many transgender individuals to be visible.

The transgender community has suffered oppression disproportionately in many ways, including through—

(1) discrimination in employment and the workplace;

(2) discrimination in educational institutions;

and

(3) violence at the hands of others

Transgender individuals of color, individuals with limited resources, immigrants, individuals living with disabilities, justice-involved individuals, and transgender youth, experience unwarranted violence. More than 700 anti-transgender bills have been submitted to legislatures across the US during the years 2021, 2022, and 2023

Yet the transgender community has made it clear that transgender individuals will not be erased and deserve to be accorded all the rights and opportunities made available to all. Before the creation of the United States, Indigenous two-spirit, transgender individuals existed across North  America in many Native American communities, with specific terms in their own languages for these individuals and the social and spiritual roles they fulfilled in their communities, and while many traditions were lost or actively suppressed by the efforts of missionaries, government agents, boarding schools, and settlers, these traditions have experienced a revival in recent decades.

Transgender individuals continue to tell their stories and push for full equity under the law across our Country. The civil rights struggle has also been strengthened and inspired by the leadership of the transgender community. Transgender individuals in the United States have made significant strides in elected office and political representation. At least 29 States have at least 1 transgender elected official at the State or municipal level

There are no less than 18 transgender, gender-non conforming, or nonbinary elected officials serving in State legislatures.

(1) Gerri Cannon

(2) Emily Dievendorf

(3) Leigh Finke

(4) Keturah Herron

(5) S.J. Howell

(6) Dominique Johnson

(7) Alicia Kozlowski

(8) Sarah McBride

(9) Samantha Montano

(10) Alissandra Murray;

(11) DeShanna Neal

(12) Danica Roem

(13) James Roesener

(14) Taylor Small

(15) Izzy Smith-Wade-El

(16) Brianna Titone

(17) Mauree Turner and

(18) Zooey Zephyr

In New Hampshire we are represented by the first openly transgender male State legislator in the United States, myself, a transgender woman and other non-binary Representatives.

Transgender individuals have created culture and history as artists, musicians, organizers, and leaders. For many of us the International Transgender Day of Visibility is a time to celebrate the transgender community around the world. It is a day when we recognize the bravery of the transgender community as it fights for equal dignity and respect.

Representative Gerri Cannon

Strafford District 12

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: How can you be pro life but against gun safety laws? Letters