Letters

Would make it unsafe

Sent to Gov. Hutchinson recently: As a retired longtime professor at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, I am amazed that our elected representatives have actually passed HB1249, telling higher-education institutions that they must allow guns on campus. They claimed that their aim is safety, but have ignored the evidence from people who know what is going on that this move is counterproductive, and will actually make our campus settings more unsafe.

ASU President Chuck Welch, the ASU Faculty Senate, the ASU Student Senate, the University of Arkansas campus police chief, city police officers, parents, and many others all agree that this is a very unwise move. Like many of my former colleagues, I have faced a death threat from a student, who fortunately was unarmed. (And now places such as bars, churches, and even the state Capitol are added to the original bill--all locations where emotion, stress, and anger are often seen.)

Please veto this ill-considered bill.

CHARLES W. HARTWIG

Jonesboro

Capital punishment

In recent days we have seen two guest writers state their views on the death penalty. Both these men are clergymen. One appealed to our governor to intervene in the scheduled execution of convicted felons. He asked the governor to consider "divine law." I claim no biblical scholarship. I do, however, believe that there is no explicit "divine law" in scripture against capital punishment.

On one occasion, Jesus interrupted a would-be execution. The crime of the guilty party was adultery. This is not now considered a "heinous" crime. (It is not considered a crime at all by the state.)

In an earlier scripture, God is reported to have said: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." And this is said because man is made in God's image.

Folks often pick and choose the scriptures which seem to back up their views. However I see no "divine " law proscribing capital punishment.

FRED SAWYER

Little Rock

Down to expectations

My father, rest his soul, was a very smart man. He told me there was only one thing wrong with the Arkansas state Legislature: They meet!

This year they have certainly made that a statement of fact.

JERRE LYNN GEORGE

Pine Bluff

Our right not to pay

Mark Davis of the Dallas Morning News writes of the demise of the ACA. Folks have a "right" not to buy insurance, according to every Republican and his dog. Conversely, the rest of us have the "right" to demand that not one thin dime of our money be used toward their care when they do get sick.

We should require a waiver be signed by each of them to that effect. Motorcycle riders have a "right" to ride in flip-flops, cutoffs and ball caps. Why do they think that the sane ones among us should pay for their health care when they lay their Harley down and become vegetables for the remaining years they're kept alive on life support because some fundamentalist thinks that's living?

Common sense tells us that insurance only works if all beneficiaries pay into it. Why else would all drivers on public roads be required to carry minimum insurance? You don't wanna pay your premiums? Fair enough. But don't expect free care derived from mine. Free markets and private insurers keep the rich folks rich and in charge. Single-payer or Medicare for everyone would not.

It seems Republicans are not historically supportive of the working class. Still singing their "Trickle Down" hymn, they're content to feel taller by standing on the necks of others!

KARL HANSEN

Hensley

Imposes large burden

Citizens and religious leaders alike need to know the burden lawmakers chose to impose upon Arkansas houses of worship when they added sections 4 and 5 to HB1249--a bill claiming to permit concealed-carry onto state college campuses but actually extending concealed-carry rights into sanctuaries and houses of worship without the permission of those communities.

Churches, mosques and temples must post signs of state-mandated language, size and location if they hope to prevent guns in their sanctuaries. I believe these signs are a de facto tax, a breach of the separation of church and state, and a violation of the First Amendment rights to free practice of religion.

Current law already enables houses of worship to "opt-in" as locations open to concealed-carry permits if they so choose; the unnecessary proposed law forces churches to opt out at cost to themselves, and would result in raised insurance rates due to increased risk, as well as damage to exterior aesthetics.

Many religions oppose violence and arms as a matter of faith, and this legislation violates their rights within their own buildings. Religious leaders and people of good conscience must be made aware of this unconstitutional overreach of state powers, and immediately contact Gov. Asa Hutchinson to veto this legislation. It waits on his desk for a signature.

MARIE MAINARD O'CONNELL

Little Rock

On unspeakable acts

I am old enough to remember a previous Republican governor who spent New Year's Eve visiting Death Row when it was at Cummins Prison. On that December evening he commuted all of those death sentences. That governor had high respect for human life.

Now we face the prospect of eight human beings being put to death by our beloved state. I am sure you want me to know what savage crimes they have committed. I know and I am horrified by their criminal actions, but my values and the laws of my state do not allow me to kill my fellow man. I would love for those values to be exhibited by the state I love and honor.

To me, the execution of eight persons within an 11-day period would be mass murder, and if I committed those acts of death within 11 days, I would be called a mass murderer. Is it any less if it is my state that commits these unspeakable acts?

Where is a governor like Winthrop Rockefeller when we are faced with this horror?

DORIS SARVER

Little Rock

Editorial on 03/22/2017

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