Dump the NFL and go discover beautiful sights of our state

I, like many of my friends, have dumped NFL-watching on Sunday, Monday and Thursday.

I find I now have time to visit the beautiful sights in our great state. I plan on visits to Canyon De Chelly, Karchner Caverns, Tombstone and other places now that I am no longer chained to my easy chair incessantly on Sunday.

It's been two weeks since I decided on this move, and I will admit I had a few withdrawal symptoms, but quickly got over them.

I strongly encourage others to do the same thing.

— Gene Coleman, Apache Junction

Trump’s big mouth turned NFL protests into really big deal

During my teaching career, we frequently had students sitting down when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance because of religious reasons.

It bothered us somewhat, but we didn't make a big deal out of it.

We were smart enough to keep our mouths shut!

As far as the NFL is concerned, not one of the players nor the owners who knelt or locked arms were protesting our flag — not one!

Colin Kaepernick was simply bringing to attention the racial injustice in our country. Neither he nor any of the others were disrespecting our flag, our national anthem nor any of our brave military men and women.

However; Trump on the other hand, with his comments about the NFL, has shown disrespect to them, to our Constitution and to the First Amendment.

If he would have kept his mouth shut, the situation would not have become such a big deal!

Cindy Harms, Cottonwood

Feds have ducked responsibility on controlling gun accessory

Yes, having seen so-called “bump” and “slide fire” devices on some semi-auto rifles at the shooting range they de facto make them capable of fully automatic fire like a machine gun.

The curious fact is why for years, so many years, during both Republican and Democratic administrations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms allowed them to be unregulated and sold.

The BATF has the power and authority to ban such devices and has done so in the past with firearms, full-auto conversion parts and even holsters.

For instance some years ago the BATF unilaterally ruled it was illegal to put a forward pistol grip on a semi-auto pistol.

The BATF is yet another incompetent federal agency that is ducking its responsibility.

— Sam Pikula, Chino Valley

Use caution when comparing charter vs. district schools

Robert Robb’s recent column says, “The Grand Canyon Institute report on charter schools can be summarized in one sentence: Some charter operators are making more money than the authors believe they should.”

If I summarized Robb’s column in one sentence it would be, “Because aggregate charter scores are higher than aggregate district scores on standardized tests, taxpayers should not be concerned with the massive amount of taxpayer money being directed to the charter owners, administrators, and governing board members (often the same people) in highly questionable transactions.”

The GCI report cites the only recent studies that used student-level data to compare district and charter students while adjusting for socio-economic and racial differences.

Those studies, one from a research center affiliated with the Hoover Institute at Stanford and the other contracted by the Goldwater Institute, both found overall Arizona district schools modestly outperform charters. Because charters rarely provide transportation, they enroll comparatively fewer students from lower income families. Consequently, we should use caution before making conclusions on aggregate data.

Robb should know that.

— Dave Wells, Mesa The letter writer is research director of the Grand Canyon Institute

Yeah, Arizona schools are terrible except in national ranking

I guess all of the CEOs commenting on the poor schools in Arizona did not check the ratings of high schools in the United States.

Five of the top 10 “Best High Schools” in the country are in Arizona, according to U.S. News and World Report.

— Scott Core, Cave Creek