First they came for the smokers

Manhattan: About 10 years ago I was in Central Park and passed by an older man sitting on a park bench reading the paper while smoking a cigar. There was a commotion and I turned to see a woman standing before him with clenched fists screaming at the top of her lungs: “You’re damaging my future children’s DNA!” The startled man stared, and I laughed. Well, she got the last laugh because smoking is now banned in Central Park. It’s out of doors! It’s 565 acres! Things began with reasonable non-smoking sections in restaurants, but now smoking is banned not only in buildings but standing in front of them, and there’s even talk of landlords forbidding smoking in your own apartment.

I believe people should have the right to own a gun or rifle for protection or hunting, and although I can’t see the need for these automatic weapons, I understand what gun owners and the NRA are worried about when it comes to giving even an inch, for fear it will turn into a mile. Another recent example is the statue issue: it started about history in the form of Confederate generals and with lightning speed progressed to Columbus.

If vegans get their way, having a chicken dinner will result in a murder charge. Self-righteous do-gooders slip too easily into a power trip masquerading as a noble crusade and prevent compromise. The irony is, it is the orgiastic power trip of being the only one armed and having everyone else under their control and at their mercy that’s so thrilling for the shooters. Diane Moriarty

Take a pill

East Patchogue, L.I.: It really bothers me when I see stories on TV about countries with children who will die of starvation because the countries are so poor. Why, oh why, do these women become pregnant when they know their child will die of starvation or sickness? This to me is a sin, a bad sin. Why not send them birth control pills and teach them how to use them instead of killing their child? Catherine Lo Curto

No game

Staten Island: I was just watching on TV about all the students marching and protesting about gun control and gun violence. I was thinking about how many of these students are still playing video games where they are shooting at and killing figures on their TV screens. I would like to see these same students throwing away all their games that contain gun battles. How about protesting the companies that produce these games? Some kids probably want to feel how it feels to really shoot and kill a real person. Ban these games. Philip Mauro

How the killing happens

Queens Village: To fellow Voicer Maryann Siero: Why don’t you wake up and finish your last sentence? Guns don’t kill people, people kill people — with guns! There were no fisticuffs involved!

Joan Silaco

Let the children lead us

Bronx: American school children should be as safe as the children of our senators and congressmen and other elected officials. I truly hope that the school children of America start a movement as never before. Let them come together, regardless or socioeconomic differences, religious affiliations, ethnicity or political boundaries. It will be a sight to behold to see our future adults fight for the right to live long enough to make their contributions to their nation.

Joseph Malavé

Why do they kill?

Scarsdale, N.Y.: Why are so many young white boys so unhappy that they want to kill people with AR-15s or bombs? Cops kill black and Mexican people, not white boys. Yet no black or Mexican people use bombs or AR-15s to kill people. So what’s up?

Claude Young

A gift to ISIS

Belford, N.J.: Did you ever wonder how a person could be vulnerable enough to permit ISIS to convince them to strap a bomb to themselves and blow themselves up in a crowd? Psychology 101 is no help here, but the victims seem to be unhappy, confused, angry or seeking some kind of revenge for an ill-conceived cause. ISIS has them believe that these inhuman acts are heroic and immortalizing, while warning that their families would be harmed if the act is not completed. America, are we insane or what? I don’t care what your political beliefs are, you cannot for one minute think we can deport youthful Dreamers to unfamiliar foreign countries alone and forlorn. They are smart, educated, many militarily trained, and familiar with much of the USA. We have to be insane to send ISIS these great Americans to feast on. What if the government changed the existing law to the following: You are an illegal immigrant if your grandparents or your great grandparents were not legal. Then, folks, where in this world would the government send you? Michael Lynch

Bad boys in the White House

Coram, L.I.: It seems that our President was quite a stud before he took office. That was then. What about those who defiled the office of the President of the United States while in office? Some come to mind — FDR, JFK, LBJ and Clinton. Shame, shame, shame, everybody knows your name. How soon we forget.

Helen E. Purdes

War is war

Minneapolis: President Trump has called for all sides in the “Syrian war” to stop fighting. Is Trump aware that he leads a government that has been fighting the Afghan war for 16 years? Does Trump really believe that the Afghan war is actually something different than the Syrian war? That the Afghan war is somehow productive and the Syrian war is not productive? Since Trump is a leader, why doesn’t he lead by example and stop fighting the Afghan war? Why he fights a “war,” we have fools running the world.

Frank Erickson

House of crooks

Floral Park, L.I.: I really do appreciate the explanation by Richard Cohen about the Trump presidency (“Trump hasn’t earned our respect,” column, March 5). So many strange things are happening in this Trump White House. I have never heard of a White House this scandalous. So many Cabinet members and White House staff are corrupted, and many are connected with Russia. Cohen is absolutely correct. I admit that all the Presidents have had their problems. But never has a President acted out like a 12-year-old girl, calling out names to everyone who opposes him. A vast majority of our best allies became our enemies due to ignorant decisions, including the tariff on steel and aluminum. I cannot wait to see the results of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Also the 2018 mid-term election. May God bless this country. Matt Easow

Calling names

Westhampton, L.I.: This is my opinion of Mr. Trump (I can’t call him President): He is an egotist, a bully, immoral, cantankerous, narcissistic, phony and most of all a liar. Mary Gillen

Birds and feathers

Katonah, N.Y.: So Donald Trump began his affairs with Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels shortly after his wife Melania gave birth to their son. That’s akin to Newt Gingrich serving divorce papers to his wife as she lay in a hospital recovering from cancer surgery. Another classy guy. Figures he’s a Trump supporter.

Gregg Cunningham

Spelling it out

Hazlet, N.J.: To Voicer Thurston Onei: You can’t spell “lying, scheming, manipulating, punk, coward, bully, blowhard worm” without T-R-U-M-P, either. What’s your point?

Don DeMartino

Profiting off the city

Long Island City: The Feb. 12 Daily News needed 103 pages to list New York City property owners who owe back taxes. Despite the growing number, Albany has to keep increasing the amount of tax every year. These taxes are needed to pay for a city that continues to be overbuilt and is getting more congested. When Mayor Michael Bloomberg started all this building, he never gave a thought to the added strain on our fragile power and water systems. He must be made to pay for all the billions he made. How dare he put all that pressure on our aging utilities without fearing the catastrophic effects of a major breakdown. Just picture what it did to Puerto Rico, only on a much larger scale. Euclid Carras

On their backs

CRAIG WARGA Manhattan: Who decides what number to put on the jersey of a newcomer to the team?

Ruth Unterberg