Letters on gun deaths, Hesston coverage, women’s health care, immigration, trashy creeks
More guns will lead to even more gun deaths
Gun massacres, like the recent Hesston shooting, will continue to occur in small-town America and in cities until the citizens of this country are willing to confront our belief system that more guns make us more safe.
The Second Amendment did not advocate the proliferation of high-powered weaponry, as such weaponry didn’t exist. It did not address mental illness or suicidal ideation.
The greatest impediment to changing current laws on gun ownership is the gun industry. It thrives on these tragic incidents – convincing us that all of us should own guns, without government interference, in order to protect ourselves from the bad guy.
We must acknowledge the simple fact that more guns and automatic weaponry will only serve to increase gun deaths in America.
Douglas R. Everingham, Park City
Not reality TV show
Once again, our nation faces a gun violence tragedy. The pain that the community of Hesston faces is a reminder that senseless violence is not going away. My critique is not about gun violence, though. My critique is about the circus of media that covered this tragedy like a reality television episode.
Every local news stations sat stationed outside of the Excel Industries building in Hesston waiting for news. Unfortunately, instead of reporting news, they interviewed the fearful family and friends expecting terrible news. The questions directed to them were about how they would react if they found out their loved ones were involved in the shooting. The interviews did not present new facts to the viewers.
The local news stations decided to release the suspected shooter’s identity before the police had confirmed it. Several stations streamed videos from the suspect’s Facebook account of the suspect shooting off weapons. Media outlets across the nation have decided that sensationalizing news is more important than reporting true, present facts.
My heart hurts for the families affected by the shooting in Hesston. I hope that in future situations, media coverage will be handled with ethical standards and a deep respect for all of the parties involved.
Megan Word, McPherson
Support women
Gov. Sam Brownback opposes abortion because he claims to support a culture of life. If Brownback supported a culture of life, we wouldn’t have unregistered guns in the hands of untrained people allowed to carry them anywhere and everywhere, we wouldn’t strip disabled kids of their services, and Topeka would stop blocking Medicaid expansion and interfering with women’s health care.
Brownback talks about less government, but that’s only for the rich and powerful. He and his henchmen are doing everything to impose their own ideas of morality and make them legally enforceable.
Brownback is getting into people’s personal business and doing everything he can to trash the lives of women, working-class folks and the poor. The private insurance ban and the telemedicine ban for abortion services are mean-spirited laws that serve no purpose other than to place women at a disadvantage. We need to pass House Bill 2586, along with HB 2580 and HB 2581, to reduce teen pregnancy and give women the control of their lives and their bodies that they need to survive.
Russ Pataky, Wichita
Immigrants needed
Seldom do I see an article in The Eagle that so dramatically demonstrates the need our nation has for talented immigrants (“The secret of Paola Ramirez-Pena,” Feb. 26 Eagle).
Unless you are a descendant of Native Americans, you are an immigrant. So am I. The article by Eagle reporter Oliver Morrison delightfully described a family from Mexico who are much-needed assets to our nation. Example: Their 17-year-old daughter, Paola, is an achiever, a leader, a very necessary productive citizen.
Instead of hateful and ignorant anti-immigrant voices, such as Donald Trump and, sadly, too many Republicans, we need to encourage and welcome people like these. Without them we will no longer be the world’s nation of opportunity and economic leadership, but will quickly join the “conservative” failures of much of the rest of the world, in the backward and deadly incest of our closed borders.
Alfred James III, Bel Aire
Clean parks, creeks
Wichita has a good system of parks and bike trails that I and many others frequently use. I have noticed that our parks, trails and streams are becoming inundated with litter.
We have an opportunity these next few weeks to clean up our city before the leaves and bugs get in the way. The creeks are low, so we can get to the areas that typically would be underwater or are muddy. Performing this task is easy and can be done by Scouts, youth groups, retirees or anyone who is just going on a walk.
North Chisholm Creek Lake is a great example of how a few people can keep a park really clean. I hope there are more parks being maintained like this.
Though we can all help in cleaning up the mess, the best litter prevention is to throw your trash away, not let it blow away in the ever-present Kansas wind. Your trash will just find its way into the brush and creeks where it may stay forever, never decomposing and being an eyesore for everyone.
Ken Hawthorne, Wichita
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This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Letters on gun deaths, Hesston coverage, women’s health care, immigration, trashy creeks."