Letters on Wichita teachers, smoking law, gun control

Wichita teachers among the best

I began my teaching career in 1970 and have since worked (almost exclusively in private schools) in New York, Massachusetts, Texas and Kansas. In addition to being a classroom teacher, I worked for 12 years as a middle school administrator in a college-prep school in Dallas. One of my primary responsibilities was the evaluation of the teachers in that school.

For the past four years I have worked for USD 259 as a paraeducator at the middle school level. In my role as assistant teacher, I have worked directly, in the classroom, with 18 different teachers in eight subject areas.

I can say without hesitation that these teachers are as motivated, industrious, conscientious, reliable and empathetic as any other faculty with whom I have worked. My colleagues deal daily with challenges found rarely in the private schools with which I am familiar. That they often do not receive the respect they deserve is an outrage.

Protect clean air

On July 1, 2010, Kansas decision-makers took the bold step of adopting the Kansas Indoor Clean Air Act, providing statewide protection from the dangers of secondhand smoke. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, secondhand smoke exposure causes lung cancer, heart diseases and respiratory diseases in nonsmoking adults and children, resulting in an estimated 46,000 heart-disease deaths and 3,400 lung-cancer deaths among U.S. nonsmoking adults each year.

Thanks to bipartisan efforts in the Legislature, the tireless efforts of our state’s health advocates and the support of Kansans, the Kansas Indoor Clean Air Act continues to ensure that everyone can breathe clean air. But the work is not done.

Data suggests that electronic-cigarette emissions are not merely “harmless water vapor” and can be a source of air pollution, containing nicotine and several cancer-causing toxins. Decision-makers across Kansas and the nation are taking steps to include electronic cigarettes in laws to protect residents.

Time and technology may change, but the public health benefits of clean indoor air must be preserved. I am hopeful that our local and state leaders will continue to be bold and ensure that everyone can breathe clean air.

Keep our weapons

I have two laminated cards in my wallet that are significant to me. One is my Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood, and the other is my concealed-carry card.

The CDIB card reminds me that a government has previously taken weapons away from indigenous citizens. When it removed our weapons, there was the promise that “we will protect you.”

Contrary to media reports, the Orlando massacre was not the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Wounded Knee was. An estimated 300 unarmed Native American men, women and children were murdered in their place of guaranteed safety by the government that promised to protect them.

My concealed-carry permit reminds me that one well-practiced patriot can neutralize the threat of a lone-wolf Islamic terrorist. Had there been one such patriot in an Orlando nightclub, there might have been a completely different outcome.

Now the rhetoric in Washington, D.C., indicates that our government wants to remove our right to own weapons. Americans in droves are rushing to buy firearms. Why? We have realized that we are responsible to protect our families. Our government has proved that it cannot protect us from radicalized Muslims. And without weapons, who will protect us from our own government?

My Native American ancestors should have fought to keep their weapons.

Guns more sacred?

The most vocal gun enthusiasts are convinced the government wants to take away all their firearms. I don’t know the basis of this argument. When was the last time this happened? Or was even attempted?

After a mentally ill person slaughters several dozen schoolchildren or commits mass execution with an assault rifle in a movie theater, nothing seems to change. To many gun owners, the Second Amendment justifies the shooter’s right to buy, own and use battlefield weapons without inconvenient restrictions. Their voices continue to demand “no new gun laws.”

Many of these same individuals sound incredibly insensitive to the loss and pain these guns have caused, seeming to regard these tragic, senseless murders as unfortunate collateral damage.

When I hear it said the Second Amendment is more sacred than the lives taken by guns, my mind imagines this scene: Killers parading in public, with the devil’s lobbyists near the front of the column, followed by their masters. No one looks down as they trample the dead, the misunderstood Second Amendment driving them on. Following in lockstep are gutless lawmakers, who have no guilt or empathy for the young lives that have paid for this folly. Charlton Heston leads this procession, his right hand thrust skyward, proudly grasping an AR-15 and proclaiming, “Not from my cold, dead hand.”

Need gun laws

No one needs a military-style weapon that is capable of firing large-capacity magazines to defend their home and family. Americans deserve to live in a country where we can feel safe in public places.

We are paying an insane cost in human lives so some can own these weapons. Commonsense gun laws are long overdue, and Republican senators refuse to even support legislation that would help keep such weapons from those on terrorist watch lists.

We have no choice but to bypass politicians whose loyalties only lie with the National Rifle Association, and give the power to enact better gun laws to the people through ballot initiatives and other actions. The majority of Americans want commonsense gun laws and expanded background checks. If the legislators who have accepted blood money to protect the NRA interests aren’t brave enough to support and enact our demands, then we will represent ourselves.

Laws won’t work

If all people respected our laws, there would be no need for police. Laws have never controlled prostitution, liquor or drugs. Why do we believe laws will control illegal use of guns?

This story was originally published June 26, 2016 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Letters on Wichita teachers, smoking law, gun control."