Tuesday's letters: Steube's handgun show, Demings over Rubio, undermining public schools

Steube impresses House with handguns

We should all thank Congressman Greg Steube for the display of his “arsenal” during a House Judiciary Committee hearing June 2.

Appearing on Zoom from his Sarasota home, Steube clearly demonstrated which large-capacity magazine handgun sales should be banned along with rifles.

More: How to send a letter to the editor

Hopefully, Steube and others will never find themselves in the position of having their children so mutilated that their identities can only be determined by DNA, like those in Uvalde, Texas. God forbid it ever happens to any parent again.

It was also comforting to learn that in the committee vote for gun control measures, not a single Republican voted for them. It makes one wonder about the IQs of members of Congress.

Could it possibly be that the mental capacity of our Congress is far exceeded by that of the population at large?

But fear not! Rest assured that Congressman Steube is standing by with his arsenal to protect the schools and grocery stores in his district.

Richard J. Correnti, Bradenton

Seniors: Join fight against gun violence

As President Joe Biden said the night of June 2, “Enough, Enough, Enough! Do something!"

As senior citizens, it is hard for many of us to get out and march or rally, but we can “do something.”

Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, you can write letters to your representatives in Congress and ask them to work on gun control.  Look up their names and addresses on the internet and email them or write real letters.

The more we flood their offices with requests for action on gun control, the better.

Some suggestions for your letter:

• Ban high-capacity magazines.

• Ban assault weapons.

• Expand background checks.

• Enact red-flag laws (passed in Florida after the Parkland school shooting).

• Raise the age to buy a gun to 21 (already 21 in Florida).

Think of your own children and grandchildren. It is time to “do something.”

Joan Haring, Sarasota

Tear down, or convert, firearms factories

Many are calling for the razing of the Uvalde, Texas, school where 21 people were slaughtered.

It would make more sense to raze some of the factories producing thousands of military-style firearms to be sold to civilians. Better yet, convert these factories to produce something useful, like baby formula.

Lawrence Bagnoli, Sarasota

Demings has backbone Rubio is missing

The headline June 2, “Demings files to battle Rubio,” brought to mind a headline last August from the New York Times, “Why do Republicans hate cops?”

Congresswoman Val Demings, a Democrat, was formerly a successful police chief in Orlando. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio follows the political winds to either pander to police or turn his back on them.

In March 2021, Rubio voted against $350 billion in government and local police funding, essentially siding with the “defunders” and calling the bill, including $200 million to pay bonuses for Florida law enforcement, “irresponsible.”

Later that year he voted against holding rioters accountable for attacking police. The bill Rubio opposed, HR 3233, created the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

As police chief, Demings was criticized for being too tough on crime, if anything. What is undeniable is that her “community-oriented policing” approach reduced violent crime by 40%.

In stark contrast to Marco Rubio, she has a backbone and gets results. It would be refreshing to put some backbone back into the U.S. Senate.

Mike Weddle, Venice

Teach students to think for themselves

I was raised in Ohio and attended K-12 in the public school system, which was widely acknowledged to be superior to the private schools.

I am told that’s still true there today, and in Northern Virginia, where I was a substitute teacher and lived for 30 years.

It has been incredible to me to see the concerted effort to undermine public schools in Florida. I asked a friend who has been a teacher here for several years how this developed, and she had only two words as an answer: Ron DeSantis.

The governor has been using state power to change the public school system, fight culture wars and create for-profit charter schools.

Banning Florida’s math books, restricting the way history can be taught, passing the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, banishing certain books from school libraries and promoting divisive discourse on critical race theory and social justice have no educational rationale.

Teachers need to foster a learning environment where students are taught to think and are able to come to their own positions and judgments.  Academic freedom is a faculty right, and teachers should be free from interference.

Sally Coler, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Steube defends right to arsenal of handguns, Demings over Rubio