Responding to letters from readers.

Today it’s your turn. Keep the e-mails, tweets and Facebook messages coming.

Dear Beth, Thank you for writing about the candidates’ views on assault rifles. Ever since Pulse (and all the other tragedies), this issue is high on my radar for whom I will vote for. — Ann

And thank you, Ann, for being an informed voter. It doesn’t matter if it’s gun policy or Donald Trump’s hair-do (it’s real!) that gets you worked up. Make sure you do your homework this election season.

Dear Beth, People like yourself and the writers in your column are either ignorant of firearms or willfully deceiving the public regarding this matter ... What part of “shall not be infringed” doesn’t anti-Second Amendment people grasp? The government should be banning and prosecuting those who are attacking America with these weapons, not the weapons! — Richard

Whenever I write about this topic, I hear from people who defend military-style weapons as no different from other firearms or who claim such a category of firearms doesn’t exist. That’s baloney. If these firearms didn’t have features that make them more lethal on the battlefield, then we would simply issue our soldiers handguns or what many people might consider a typical hunting rifle. I’m talking about features such as barrel shrouds that allow the shooter to hold and control the weapon without getting burned while firing rapidly. Or folding or telescoping stocks that allow the weapon to be concealed more easily. Or detachable magazines designed for minimum disruption while, again, firing as quickly as possible. The assault weapons ban that Congress allowed to expire in 2004 wasn’t perfect, but there’s a reason why it addressed such features and there’s a reason why eight states have some version of a ban today.

Dear Beth, Take it from someone who is actually a gun owner/ hunter/Army veteran, and has been on this planet for almost eight decades, our present level of gun mania did not exist until the last few years. — Tom

Noted, Tom. There have been at least two mass shootings just since Friday at a Macy’s in Washington state and a shopping plaza in Houston. We can not continue to accept this as normal.

Dear Beth, I am a third grade teacher. Common Core math gives all students the opportunity to meet with success. If one strategy doesn’t work for a student, she has two or three other ways to solve a math problem. I was a math phobic student. Had Common Core been around, I may have excelled at math. Thank you for getting the information out to the community. — Lynne

I hear you, Lynne. And to think, if I had learned math with the current curriculum, I might have been an accountant instead of a journalist ... but would I have had this much fun?

Dear Beth, I moved to western Seminole County 10 years ago. It was not unusual to see a bear

If these firearms didn’t have features that make them more lethal on the battlefield, then we would simply issue our soldiers handguns or what many people might consider a typical hunting rifle.

walking down the street or through someone’s yard or even in my backyard every month or two. Didn’t help that at least one neighbor put out their garbage cans the night before. After reading your column (“Close call shows importance of bear policy”), I realized I haven’t seen a bear in months at my house or in neighborhood ... So still around, but appears not like before. — Frank

Good news. There are fewer reports of nuisance bears since Seminole’s rules requiring garbage be locked up started earlier this year. Even better results would likely come from more neighborhoods requiring bear-proof garbage cans.

Dear Beth, Your column, “Hospitals’ good deed also highlights need for better system,” is my daughter’s life right now. At age 35, a large brain tumor was found and she has had three surgeries. This has financially devastated this little family. — Cindy

Stories like yours, Cindy, are all too common. Many people are glad that the hospitals will not bill the people injured in Pulse. But more needs to be done to control high health care costs for everyone.