Letters on gun control, ‘Vaxxed’ facts

Won’t be safer by banning weapons

I doubt anyone who owns a gun curls up in a fetal position over any statement by President Obama, and it’s not only “right-wingers” who own semi-automatic rifles (“Ban weapons of war from the public,” June 17 Letters to the Editor).

If you don’t like the Second Amendment, work to repeal it according to the Constitution. It’s part of a sacred document that limits the government’s power, and neither Obama nor anyone else has the power to change the Constitution.

A ban on a type of weapon doesn’t make you safer. The best gesture we can make to victims of crime is to convict those who plot or act to destroy our rights granted by God and enumerated by our Constitution. If you wish to live under a massive regulatory regime, then move to the country that limits freedom to your liking.

Obama has tried with some success to make this nation less free, and the most recent killing of innocents and those before occurred at places where guns were restricted. If we wring our hands, it’s at the inept leadership of Obama and the weakness that is the Democratic Party.

Right not to be shot

Since the tragedy in Orlando, I have heard conservative politicians, including our own Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, suggest that even though the perpetrator had been on the terrorism watch list, it was important that his Second Amendment right to purchase a firearm be protected. But what about the rights of the 102 people who were shot that night? What about the right to go to a nightclub with the expectation that you will be able to return to your home without being shot? And for the 49 who perished, what about their right to life?

Do conservatives and their campaign benefactor, the National Rifle Association, truly believe that anyone’s right to own a gun is more sacred than one’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

These same people are always stating their desire to prevent guns from falling into the hands of felons and those with mental problems. If they truly wanted to prevent these people from having easy access to firearms, they would support commonsense legislation that would require background checks at gun shows and would prevent people on the terror watch list or the no-fly list from being able to simply walk into a store and, a few minutes later, walk out with an AR-15 or any other weapon.

‘Vaxxed’ facts

“Claims in anti-vaccine film discredited” (June 16 Letters to the Editor) was a typical response by the medical establishment to all facts and evidence that admonish its vaccine shrine. These physicians are attempting to impose their confused, wishful thinking to dissuade the public from hearing the truth.

Fact: “Vaxxed” is not an anti-vaccination movie. It covers the investigation of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine research revealed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researcher and whistleblower William Thompson, who discovered a very high statistical correlation between MMR vaccine given before 3 years of age and the subsequent development of autism in the black population. It details how critical data were intentionally suppressed to preserve the MMR program, and the trail of corruption to the very top of the agency.

Fact: Andrew Wakefield did not falsify vaccine research for his own gain. He wrote a clinical report regarding 12 children who developed autism accompanied with severe gastrointestinal inflammation after receiving the MMR vaccine. The clinical research of Wakefield and professor John Walker-Smith discovered the same MMR measles strain in the intestines of these children. The report only hypothesized the possibility that MMR could be harmful and suggested further research.

Fact: Other researchers did come to the same conclusion. Two other researchers discovered the same correlation between gut inflammation and autism in seven children. In 1996 they presented their findings in “Enterocolitis and Disintegrative Disorder Following MMR.” Also, Wake Forest University found 70 of 82 autistic children in their study had the same MMR measles strain in their intestines.

Fact: Walker-Smith won his appeal against the British General Medical Council – de facto exoneration for Wakefield.

This story was originally published June 21, 2016 at 12:03 AM with the headline "Letters on gun control, ‘Vaxxed’ facts."