LETTERS

— Bring teachings back

Where is our nation headed? The horrendous tragedy in the school in Connecticut has many families in the town and throughout this nation asking for God’s help and guidance, but God wasn’t even allowed in the school while the children were alive.

Maybe our government doesn’t recognize that guns don’t kill people, people do. Bring God and his teachings back to the children in our schools.

RICHARD GAMBLE Hot Springs Village That makes no sense

Let’s see-I am 76 years old and I bought my first gun at a farm sale for $5, a 10-gauge shotgun. Over the years I have had many revolvers, pistols and high-caliber rifles. Not one of them ever left my home and shot someone. Neither have any of my kitchen knives, cars or baseball bats ever gone on a killing rampage.

The attack by the liberals makes no sense as they apparently only see guns as killers and have never offered a law governing those other items.

Maybe, just maybe, they should look to themselves and see how they have made it possible to remove God from everything public and replaced him with themselves as the givers of good.

Yup, we now have laws protecting the killing of babies in the womb, gays marrying and calling it an alternative lifestyle, removing all personal responsibility and giving out Section 8 housing, food stamps, two years’ unemployment to people, as well as free government services for illegal aliens without ever providing a dime of support for America.

Now when a nut gets loose and kills as abnormally as in Connecticut, the liberals all stand up and wantmore gun laws and thereby do nothing to correct the problem they have made.

The answer is to put God back into America, just as he was put in by our founding fathers. Then remove all of these policies which support evil as good and good as evil. Then and only then will God bless America again.

PAUL M. DAVIS Cabot Work toward answer

Just once, after a tragedy like the recent one in Connecticut, I would like to hear the National Rifle Association express its concern, condolences and willingness to help address this national problem.

Instead, we get their predictable knee-jerk defensive reaction-or no reaction at all for days.

It’s not the individual NRA members who are the problem, it’s the organization’s leadership that refuses to acknowledge the issue. I also blame the politicians who are so afraid of losing NRA funding and support that they do nothing about it as well.

Like many Arkansans, I am a gun owner and concealed-carry permit holder. But I wish there was a group of Gun Owners for Gun Law Reform.

I understand the problem involves more than guns-it involves mental health, the violence/entertainment industry, family issues, peer pressure, the Internet, the media and others.

Contributions and reform from all involved parties are desperately needed. The NRA should definitely be one of those parties.

LESLIE SINGER Little RockMake just one change

It’s been less than a week since the terrible events at Sandy Hook Elementary. It’s hit me hard as a father of a kindergartner. What’s also kept me up at night is the start of the battles that will continue over how we need to change. Whether it’s gun bans, mental health checks, or school access limits, we’re waiting on the government to solve the problem and just talking, not acting.

Guns aren’t going away. Adam Lanza took and used guns that he didn’t own. His mother could have been more responsible to limit that access.

I am making a request to all gun owners. I don’t want to take your guns, limit their use, or violate your constitutional rights. What I am asking of every gun owner: Evaluate your situation. If you care at all about these 20 kids that were murdered, make one change in your life that makes your guns safer and harder for someone to take and use.

The result of this, if everyone does it, won’t show up in statistics, but I believe that if everyone does one thing, it will save lives. If we care at all about doing something to try to limit this sort of tragedy from occurring again, make the “one change” commitment for the victims of Sandy Hook, Aurora, and all of the other towns that have dealt with this.

Will this stop this from happening again? Probably not, but we have the power to limit it without waiting for Washington, so isn’t it worth it?

Don’t wait for our government to take action. I challenge you all to take this action, and it will make a difference.

CHAD GETCHELL Bentonville Cringe-worthy action

Oh, my. Don’t take our big clips away. We need big, powerful automatic weapons for protection.

Our Congress and the politically powerful National Rifle Association should cringe at their stupidity in the way they observe our Second Amendment rights.

There are sick people among us who cannot help themselves. It is our responsibility to overcome their inability to function properly.

BEN SCHWARTZ Maumelle Rose-colored glasses

Re the recent letter written by Porfirio Gutierrez of Bella Vista: He states that the combination of guns and people kill; take one out of the equation and no one will be killed by a gun.

This is the real world. Rose-colored glasses won’t work. If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. If someone breaks in to your home and threatens your life and your family, who do you want with the gun? You or the robber? The equation: With a gun, your odds are excellent, and without, zero.

Yes, we are proud gun owners and proud that we have that right. We can sleep well with our guns and alarm systems. Think about it.

CAROL KUBIAK Crossett A not-so-merry time

Thank you, Barack Obama, and the Senate and, of course, Congress for remembering me and mine this sad Christmas for a lot of peoplein America. Here’s my gift for you and yours on this day as my one son and only child gets aholiday trip to Afghanistan.

Bless you, Congress, and remember to keep strong that Second Amendment that’s so beloved by us.

I also wonder this weekend just how well the swell, new, exciting sporting-goods store did selling more handguns and rifles for Christmas presents. Merry Christmas.

SUSAN WELLS Rogers

Editorial, Pages 15 on 12/20/2012

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