Letters to the Editor: Issue of Dec. 20, 2012

The issue is mental health

Regarding last week’s shootings in Connecticut:

The true way help stop this senseless violence is understanding mental health. The insurance companies and government cut the funding to it. Our society looks at it as an issue that they do not want to be related to. Mental health is a fact, probably worse and wider spread than cancer. But no one wants to admit it because it is an albatross hanging around your neck in our society.

If we see that a friend or loved one has a medical issue, we immediately advise them to see a doctor and have it taken care of. When we see a friend or loved one with a mental issue, we are afraid to say a word. As soon as we can all understand mental health better and work with it, we will have a better control over it.

Gun control won’t keep people from going over the edge and pulling off a Newtown or Columbine or Aurora or any other tragedy. Neither will outlawing violent video games, nor will raising your kids right.

The issues of mental health needs to be known, acknowledged, admitted and treated to stop much of this senseless violence. When will we, as a society, do that?

Ron Wilson,

Get tough on guns

Last Friday an unhinged man in China, wielding a knife, stabbed 22 school children. None were killed and only a few were seriously hurt.

So much for the infantile slogan, “Guns don’t kill, people do.” In America, where every misfit has access to an automatic weapon, it’s clearly guns that do the killing.

Our gutless politicians are complicit in the Connecticut massacre. How many more children have to die before they show some courage? Now is the time to get serious about gun control: and no nonsense about the Second Amendment. The Constitution doesn’t confer a right to possess weapons of mass murder, like automatic handguns, assault rifles and 30-bullet clips.

Frank Auwarter,

Assign cops to our schools

I have been watching the news regarding the shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. This school lost 26 students and staff and my heart goes out to all of the families. This type of situation happens all too often not just across our nation, but all over the world. The families left behind will likely suffer grief forever.

We live in a beautiful area but we are not immune from something like this happening here. Are we doing enough to stay safe?

For starters, I recommend we assign one police officer to every school. I know cost is a factor, but considering the alternative, it will be worth it. We must pay attention to this trend and stay ahead by posting at least one officer at every school to ensure the safety of our children.

Tim Williams,