Letters to the editor Prayers of Trump, Pence, NRA aren’t being heard

I’m sorry to report that the prayers of President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and the National Rifle Association are not being heard by the innocent victims of mass shootings. Perhaps you would consider another approach. How many children must die before we have gun control? — Sandra Bardas, Menlo Park

NRA is responsible for the killing of children

Reprise: The National Rifle Association is directly responsible for the killing of hundreds of innocent citizens in America, including children. — Larry Stone, Assessor Santa Clara County

Who gets NRA money, then doesn’t protect children?

It has happened again! Another school shooting and Congress tells us it’s not the time to talk about it. But we must talk about it. Most of the people in this country favor some sort of gun control, but our representatives won’t take action. So, we the people must take action.

We need the newspapers to publish the names of our representatives, identify their positions on gun control and the amount of money they receive from the NRA. We need to use social media to expose them. These officials misrepresent the Second Amendment. None of these shooters belongs to a “well- organized militia” that the Constitution specifically mentions.

When we have a Congress that accepts contributions from the gun lobby and in return refuses to protect our children from slaughter, we must exercise our Constitutional right and power as citizens to vote these “prostitutes” out of office. — Betty Berkshire, Los Gatos

What Evergreen backers don’t want you to know

Here’s what the proponents behind the Evergreen Senior Homes Initiative don’t want you to know: In addition to the 200acre development in Evergreen, they’ve also created a loophole to allow senior housing on any “under-utilized employment land” in San Jose.

They’ve conveniently neglected to define this term, but it could potentially mean any lands not built out to maximum capacity, including strip malls, office buildings, and vacant lands designated for employment. Put simply, this is a threat to every single neighborhood in the city, and it opens the door for costly sprawl. The inherent ambiguity and uncertainty of the initiative should be enough for any San Jose resident to be weary of voting for it. — Karen Lattin, San Jose

High-speed rail from L.A. to Bay Area is pure folly

In response to Rod Diridon Sr. (Opinion, Feb. 15) regarding our current high-speed rail project, I agree that it would be great to have good transportation from the San Joaquin Valley to the Santa Clara Valley. However, to have a highspeed rail system from Northern to Southern California is pure folly.

Ridership would be virtually nonexistent as we have more than adequate air service between the two areas of the state. By the time the project is completed at a cost many, many times the price tag we approved as voters, the technology will be obsolete and virtually worthless. Time to expand service from Silicon Valley to the Central Valley and from Hollister to San Francisco and dump the rest.

— Will Brecheen, San Jose

Invite veterans to walk in Trump’s military parade

How about for the president’s military parade, in place of hardware on display, we invite veterans to walk the route? After all, their service is are our true strength. — Paul Wedel, San Jose