Blame the perpetrators, not the guns

I, and I am sure many others who have remained silent, have seen the Post- Gazette bombarded with letters demonizing guns and calling for more “commonsense gun control,” a leftist euphemism for eviscerating the Second Amendment, and disarming the American public.

As I have stated before in the PG, when tragedies perpetrated by murderous maniacs occur in this country, whatever the political persuasions of these maladjusted nutcases happen to be, the first thing that the left wants to do is to take the guns away from the people who didn’t do it.

The first thing that every totalitarian, or would- be totalitarian regime in history has done, is to disarm the populace. Why? Because as the old saying goes, “An armed man ( or woman) is a citizen, an unarmed man is a subject.”

A loaded firearm may be placed on a table for eternity and never harm anyone. Guns may be used for good or evil. It is only when an individual, a sub- human with evil intent, decides to pick up that firearm and use it to commit mayhem, that we see these horrible murders occur. Blame the perpetrator of these horrific deeds, not the inanimate object used to commit them.

MATTHEW BURK

Marshall

More pressure

With each new mass murder, pressure mounts on Republican legislators to do what they know is wrong: take away our constitutional rights. The “red flag” proposed legislation will be the means to accomplish this.

Not long ago, our government made a list of potential terrorists in our midst for the event of a clampdown on terrorism. At the head of the list was all military veterans, because they had been trained in the use of firearms. Does this give you some idea of how the red- flag legislation will be used?

I predict that the original intent of the red- flag list will soon be stretched to include almost anyone the gun- grabbers want. Eventually, this will include anyone who owns a weapon. If you doubt this, just look at how the commerce clause of our Constitution has been misinterpreted to allow the government to control almost anything it wants to, in violation of constitutionally enumerated rights.

In the absence of legislators with the stamina and moral fiber to do what they know to be right, our Second Amendment rights will soon be a thing of the past. ED BENDER Reading, Pa.

Three issues

Margaret Lanier, the city’s finance director and treasurer, says Aaron Pickett, a city real estate manager, is “a strong worker” and that she’s “never had any issues with him” ( Aug. 6, “City Real Estate Manager Violated Ethics Act”).

Here are three issues she might have with him: honesty, transparency and integrity. I wonder if those are included in job descriptions and requirements anymore?

LORETTA BARONE Point Breeze

School funding

The Aug. 4 letter “Help the Poor” by Kurt Colborn truly illustrates the irrational thought process of some people. Blaming conservatism and generally vilifying the Christian Right for the comments of a school board member is a classic example of a logical fallacy.

Based on one comment by a school board member, Mr. Colborn states that the Christian Right “no longer believes in charity.” By this statement, he demonstrates his own prejudice against people of faith despite his biblical quotation.

Yet, if one thinks rationally, one would realize that the board member is correct; it is not the role of a school district to house, feed and clothe the students. However, free or reducedprice student lunches have been available to those who qualify for many years.

A few minutes of research shows that it is not a rich district; it is comprised of suburbs of Wilkes Barre and is in Luzerne County. This is a district that receives over half of its funding from state and federal sources.

All the articles don’t give us the facts or situations that led up to the letter, which appears to be penned out of frustration with the debt. Thankfully, the situation was resolved in a positive manner and lessons were learned. By the way, Luzurne County voter registration lists 105,490 Democrats and 77,234 Republicans. How this breaks down in Wyoming Valley West School District is unknown, but given that the district is not rich, one can assume that the makeup is mostly Democratic and not Republican.

Chill out, Mr. Colborn, and take a long walk if able. Also, try reading and contemplating this verse: Luke 6: 37- 42.

MARY MAHINSKE

Bethel Park