You titled your Jan. 21 editorial “It makes sense: Governor wants funds to improve school safety.”
I title this one, “No it doesn’t.” Every time there is a national tragedy like the one in Newtown, Conn., the politicians go into knee-jerk reaction. They feel like they have to do something even if it is the wrong or ineffective thing.
The ones like President Obama and Gov. O’Malley, who have some power, use these tragedies to their advantage to advance their own agendas.
They want to control our lives, tax everything in sight, spend money like it grows on trees, and take away our freedoms.
In a “Letter to the Editor” that same day the writer stated that “the assailants could not have killed the number of people that they did with a screwdriver or hammer.”
I beg to differ on this statement. An adult armed with a hammer, machete, baseball bat, crowbar, or similar weapon could have killed every single defenseless child in that classroom if he had first blocked their way of escape by blocking the door with a heavy desk.
If a deranged killer is intent on killing, then outlawing “assault” rifles (these are not the automatic weapons used by our military) or registering guns will not stop him and it is ludicrous to think that they will.
Neither will placing armed guards at schools or fortifying the entrances deter a determined killer. He could simply wait until the children go outside for recess, find them at a public playground, or he could wait at a school bus stop and forcibly board the bus to carry out his dastardly deed.
If he plans to use a gun in his killing plan he will find a way to obtain one by bypassing a background check and stealing one would be the easiest way. No law is going to keep him from doing this.
In fact, guns are stolen frequently as we often see in this newspaper. Many of these killers have no regard for their own safety and killing themselves is usually part of their plan. They remind me of the suicide bombers in the Middle East. There is no defense for them.
I truly believe that the violent culture that we have today has been exacerbated by violent movies, TV shows, and video games where after a time they become desensitized to people being violently killed.
Also the drug culture plays a significant role in this violent culture. Abortion on demand is another thing that has cheapened and devalued human life.
Why do we get so upset (and we definitely should) over a classroom of grade school children being killed and yet we do nothing about the hundreds of thousands of babies being killed every year? Over 55 million babies have been killed in the United States by abortion since 1973.
Politicians are planning on spending millions, if not billions, of our tax dollars with their solutions which will not work. They will only waste our tax dollars and burden law abiding citizens who legally own guns or who would like to obtain one for their own safety or sport.
Vernon Grapes
Cumberland
Editorials
Solutions that won’t work don’t make sense
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An old story
What for years has been an on-again, off-again battle over funding between the Allegany County Commissioners and the Allegany County Board of Education seems to be growing even uglier.
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‘Forgotten warrior’ not forgotten
The Korean War is often called “The Forgotten War.” My generation remembers the Battle for LZ X-Ray at Ia Drang, The Tet Offensive, and Khe Sahn of the Vietnam War.
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Organization needed to help utilize the Potomac River
I am a committee remember on the Tamiami Trail Scenic Highway which stretches from Palmetto to Venice, Fla.
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Reducing meat consumption can help ease climate change
A review of 12,000 papers on climate change, in the May 15 issue of “Environmental Research Letters,” found that 97 percent of scientists attribute climate change to human activities.
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Editorial Cartoon - 05/18/2013
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Maryland has stopped being “The Free State”
I am a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and, last but not least, the National Rifle Association. I am a yearly member of the American Legion.
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Outrageous
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
This amounts to spying on an American news organization — common practice in dictatorships but scary conduct in a democratic system that prizes the public value of an independent watchdog press. -
Prevention
The Allegany County Board of Health on Tuesday heard some alarming numbers involving overdoses involving drugs and alcohol. Fortunately, the group already has a plan to ease the situation.
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Financial gutting will damage school system
I am writing in response to the Allegany County Commissioners’ efforts to cut local education spending to the lowest possible level allowed under state law.
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Cemetery organization plans events to mark Memorial Day
This upcoming Memorial Day marks the 30th anniversary of the Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization (CHCO).
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