My granddaughter’s been let down
Over a month ago my grandaughter was assaulted by three 15-year-old girls while she was having a lovely evening out with friends. She received a bloodied nose, a black eye, and her face will now be scarred.
These young criminals were picked up by the police when using her debit card, and I believe they were already known to police.
My grandaughter is now terrified to go out in the evening and no victim support service as yet has been in contact with her.
I am most distressed as to what this crime has done to her, and the fact that police have not charged these young criminals with anything to date (I would suggest assault, theft and fraud for starters) makes me think they are indifferent to this crime because the day James Shaw (a politician) was attacked, not only was a ranked officer put on the case but a person was promptly charged over the attack.
‘‘Justice is blind.’’ The law is supposed to be applied exactly the same way, black or white, young or old, famous or unknown. Apparently not so in my granddaughter’s case.
Juliana C Radaich, Mt Victoria
Stricter controls
Arguments by Dean Sewell (Letters, March 25) against further gun controls could just as easily be turned around in favour of proposed reforms.
Government agencies and others may have missed signals that the Christchurch shooter was not a suitable person to hold a gun licence and own multiple weapons with enhanced capabilities.
However, that underlines the need for stricter controls to protect us. Someone who is quiet but friendly, keeps his rental property clean and tidy and pays his rent, takes regular active exercise and belongs to a legitimate gun club, does not raise red flags, and yet such a person ruthlessly killed 50 in an attack planned over more than a year.
Thus, for everyone’s protection, the law must assume we are all capable and set rules accordingly. Who absolutely needs multiple weapons each capable of multiple shots? Absolutely no-one.
Marg Pearce, Whitby
We have some good plans to make another mindless massacre less likely to happen here again. I applaud the new gun laws (thanks to Jacinda Ardern) – and the heartfelt efforts to make our society more accepting and loving (thanks to everyone).
I wonder if we could think about giving police the power to look at the personal computers and online traces of action and attitude whenever someone applies for a gun licence?
I read that the alleged murderer passed the vetting procedure where another person who knew him gave him a good report as far as that person knew. We all know now what police would have quickly discovered about his online persona.
Jonathon Harper, Ngaio
Respect all religions
We’ve heard a lot about tolerance and respect for other people’s religious beliefs since March 15, and rightly so. How sad then to see Jeff Bell’s snide and very unfunny little dig at Destiny Church’s Brian Tamaki.
Much about Destiny Church is controversial and I am certainly not a member because its style is far removed from what I seek in a church. Nevertheless it fulfils the spiritual needs of some thousands of people and to that extent it deserves the same respect as any other religious body that fulfils the spiritual needs of its followers even when we don’t understand some of the things they do and we don’t like what we see some of their more extreme adherents doing or saying.
But then we’ve always known that respect for religions is displayed selectively, with Christianity well back in the line. Apparently, the Ides of March didn’t change that.
Owen Dance, Featherston
I had a little chuckle at the cartoon aimed at Brian Tamaki (March 25) and immediately felt ashamed. Does this cartoon inspire a new wave of tolerance and acceptance of difference or does it just reinforce prejudice and division?
While I personally don’t adhere to Brian’s faith perspective, doesn’t he too have the right to express it and if we disagree then we can in love say so. To denigrate him in order to challenge his understanding is, I think, in bad taste.
Perhaps if we have learnt anything over the last few weeks it is that as New Zealanders we hold fair play as a New Zealand value and we should all practise playing the ball, not the man or woman. Teresa Homan, Upper Hutt
The despicable murder of innocent people last Friday week in Christchurch must open the eyes and minds of the world to the terrible path we are on if this type of intolerance of others is allowed to continue. It’s not only the attitude of extremists that needs to change, but that of the everyday people whose conversations and actions espouse intolerance and unwillingness to ‘‘live and let live’’.
Thousands of Muslims suffer persecution throughout the world, even by other Muslim sects. A 2019 ‘‘Open Doors’’ report shows 4136 Christians killed for faith-related reasons, an average of 11 Christians killed daily, all year. The same attention by media and world leaders on this has been noticeably missing.
Last Friday’s events were absolutely terrible. New Zealand, a world leader in so many humanitarian rights areas, must use this world attention to again take the lead, loudly rejecting any forms of religious, racial or other intolerance anywhere, worldwide despite economic and political expediency that has too often closed our eyes and mouths. We cannot change history but we can determine what our future looks like. Then the victims of last Friday week may not have died in vain.
Robert Hallam, Omokoroa