Today's letters: Readers comment on the GOP, AR15s and school zoning

Crooked politicians

“Just say you won,” said Rudy Giuliani to Trump after the 2020 election. The fix was already in and about to be implemented by an army of crooked lawyers. They failed after 60 cases in court and an unsuccessful attack on our Capitol — only because a handful of decent, honest state election employees stood firm and refused to overturn the election.

Yet, Trump continues the ruse, riling his base still. Eight-hundred-sixty-one of his followers at the Jan. 6 insurrection have charges against them. Some of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have been charged with sedition.

I thought Trump was the most evil, vile, lying human being ever to be president — until I watched CNN's two-hour documentary on Nixon. I had forgotten just how repugnant Nixon was. Trump takes the No. 1 spot, but "Tricky Dick" is a close second. Both of them are a cancer on our nation with a willingness to do "anything" to get elected.

Well, at least we have the Jan 6 commission televised hearings. Yeah, right! The people who should watch it won't, and those of us who already know about Trump's criminality will watch it. But, we may get lucky; perhaps some reasonable Republicans or independents tuned in.

I think if some of the kids who are being killed in these school shootings were the children of politicians, we would have had gun safety rules enacted 20 years ago. Their kids all go to private schools, which are much safer.

So, Republicans continue to receive tens of millions of dollars from the NRA for their campaigns every cycle, and kids keep getting shot. It is sickening. How can these 50 U.S. senators look at themselves in the mirror? Just look up the money that Rubio and Scott get from the NRA — you will be repulsed!

Just raise the purchase age to 21 for these rifles. Wake up! Fifty percent of us do not even vote, so I am not expecting much in the future. I have grown impervious to ignorance.

Meanwhile, Trump has hand-picked 17 lackeys to run for secretary of state in 17 states. All the easier to switch "elector slates," my dear.

But, have no fear. Ryan Zincke, Trump's disgraced former Interior secretary, was running in a primary in Montana. You may remember he had 18 investigations into his conduct before he got out of dodge. Keep voting these Republican crooks in office …

Michael Perham, Clermont

AR-15s and the Second Amendment

Turnstiles have been used in many different descriptions or situations involving crime and laws, usually in a negative connotation as to the same crime committed over and over again.

So, here we are again after another barrage of hideous crimes perpetrated on innocent people, accomplished with the use of an assault weapon. As with many mass shootings in the past few decades, the weapon of choice has been the AR-15. After each occurrence, we hear the same old insincere sympathies and scripted outrage by our political leaders who continually refuse to follow through with a solution for fear of negative political repercussions.

Many years ago, Second Amendment proponents would defend its right to allow AR-15s for sale to the general public by declaring if we give in and ban one gun, the bleeding-heart liberals will come after all of our guns. Of course, they never mentioned the 10 years or so (mid-1990s to 2004) AR15s were banned from sale in the U.S. and these bleeding-heart liberals never pursued anything further banning of any kind of weapon.

Nor was it mentioned that, during the ban on those AR-15s, mass shootings were virtually eliminated. Again, the same political leaders never mentioned that machine guns also were banned for almost 100 years without any talk of eliminating legitimate firearms.

So, what do we have left for the defense of maintaining the status quo while our children are dying? One contributor suggested limiting access to schools by eliminating some entrances to the school building and installing turnstiles that would prevent a weapon from entering the school. Of course, the writer never gives a solution on how to evacuate hundreds and sometimes thousands of students in case of an emergency like a fire or a severe weather event with so few exits.

This time we hear the solution is to arm and train teachers in defending our children from a shooter using a military-style weapon, build schools like fortresses, create a whole bureaucracy and scrutinize every gun purchase, and then hope for the best. What are we doing to our children and their education?

Now, I could intellectually understand these career politicians who want to hold onto their jobs so badly that they’re willing to jeopardize our children’s welfare by not banning the AR-15s. What in the world motivates an individual civilian, considering everything that's happened in the last 20 years, to continue to support a weapon I’m sure they don't own themselves?

Bob Del Castillo, Leesburg

Zone for academic success

The public education system in America traces its roots back to a time before the Internet. The Boston Latin School was established in 1635 — and for most of the time since, factors such as geographic location (zoning), economic status, race and gender have played defining roles in determining who could attend which institutions.

Although government-run education has changed significantly, one negative has remained: The neighborhood where your child lives still determines the quality of their education. Despite nearly 400 years of advances, geography remains stubbornly determinant of the quality of a child’s education.

Homeschooling works for many students. There are some, however, who could benefit from an alternative at-home instructional system, one that provides both structure and opportunities for individualized learning and social interaction.

I talk every day with parents who want something better for their kids. I have three school-aged sons myself, so I served on our county school board, founded and served on educational boards and organizations, and launched a network of charter schools in Florida.

Recent advances in technology — specifically virtual reality — have allowed us to launch a first-of-its-kind school that eliminates the problem of zoning. We created Optima Classical Academy as a tuition-free third-through-eighth-grade classical charter school option for students to get high-quality instruction in virtual reality classrooms.

This approach could eliminate our zoning issue.

Our concept isn’t for every student. It is, however, one example of what can happen when parents involve themselves in their child’s education and look outside the box for solutions.

Erika Donalds, national school choice advocate and wife of U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (FL-19)

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This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: June 26 letters: Readers comment on the GOP, AR-15s and school zoning