The Open Forum
Letters to the Editor
More guns, more homicides
Re: “Homicides at levels not seen since 1981 in Denver ...” Jan. 31 news story
According to the article, “experts and police [have] struggled to pinpoint an exact cause for the surge in violence.” Several plausible explanations were given in the article, but one glaring cause wasn’t mentioned: the huge increase in gun ownership. Based on the number of background checks approved by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, there were almost 50% more guns sold in 2020 as in 2019.
Considering the close correlation between gun ownership and gun deaths, the 51% increase in homicides in 2020 over 2019 isn’t surprising. Conflicts that would otherwise not end in death more easily become fatal when a gun is available. Since most gun killings are committed by someone known to the victim, or are suicides or accidents, the easiest way to avoid dying of a gunshot wound is to not own a gun or associate with anyone who does.
Dean Garyet, Boulder
Palestinians have equal access to vaccines in Israel
Re: “Israel to give some vaccines to Palestinians,” Feb. 1 news briefs
Even though this is a small story I feel that the headline deserves clarification. Israeli citizens, regardless of their ethnicity are all being vaccinated in the same vaccination campaign. Palestinians living under governance by the Palestinian Authority or by Hamas are subject to vaccination campaigns run by those entities. Israel is not withholding vaccines to Palestinians living in Israel.
Nancy Litwack-Strong, Lakewood
Schools can reopen stronger
Re: “Kids could fall further behind,” Feb. 1 news story
The anti-union, “let’s privatize everything” folks are having a heyday right now, bashing teacher unions for trying to protect their members (teachers) and children from getting sick, having long term health issues, dying, or giving the virus to family members. The “let’s open schools an any cost” folks claim that the science is in and children are safe (no mention of the adults in the school), but even real scientists, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have a variety of opinions, and so much is not known about the long term effects of this virus on children in particular.
Of course, it’s all a mess. We have never funded public schools adequately in this country and especially in Colorado. Expecting teachers to seamlessly transition to remote instruction on a dime with no resources and no help is totally unreasonable.
The best idea I’ve heard is to just have all kids redo this year’s grade level. Teachers have always known that kids learn at different rates and trying to box them into a scripted curriculum that requires everyone to be on the same page on the same day . If we could get out of this ineffective format and find a way for students to move at their own pace, we could do amazing things for children. This crisis just may be our chance to do things right.
Sally Augden, Denver
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