Not safer with guns

I wonder if Al Potter, who thinks Granny may have to take on Rambo (Letters, Monday), read Tina Lawson’s letter on Sunday, indicating her fears about bringing her African-american son to Florida’s “gun wonderland”?

Lawson questions whether Gov. Rick Scott can keep her son safe. I wonder the same thing. The problem with granny having a gun (and I ama granny) is that everyone begins to look threatening. Providing increasing numbers of people in the state with a gun has not, as far as I can tell, made this state safer.

Providing access to firearms hasn’t made this country safer, when one considers that in one year, our firearm homicide rate per100,000 population was 44 times the rate in England and Wales. Law-enforcement personnel are trained to consider when to shoot and how to shoot. The rest of us, who might buy guns out of fear, are not psychologically prepared to wield a lethal weapon and shouldn’t be allowed to own one.

If George Zimmerman hadn’t had a gun, he probably would have stayed in his car and relied on the police.

Rosemary B. Closson

Why do the Sentinel and politicians ignore the fact that few would benefit compared with the costs involved? At least one legislator is already having buyers remorse. Let’s hope that more of them see the light.

Seminole County is already gearing up to reinstate an extra penny sales tax to fund Sunrail. With our economy still shaky, this is not a good idea.

Larry D. Blair

We need to support rail

On a recent trip to Atlanta, I took MARTafrom the airport to a transfer station, where I hopped on a bus to my final destination. The transfer was seamless and pleasant, very much like changing trains within one of the large transit systems in the Northeast.

The naysayers need to stop criticizing Sunrail for having just one line. Every system starts small and, even with the single-line Sunrail, will reconfigure our bus-transit system in positive ways. Eventually, I can imagine a cross line running east and west along the State Road 408 route, which will provide more train-bus linkages.

Sunrail is an important part of Orlando’s transportation future. Let’s all get on the bus and support Sunrail in a way that ensures its success .

Frank R. Allen Maitland