Given the recent tragedies in Aurora, Colo. and Sandy Hook, Conn., and the extensive debate about Second Amendment rights, I felt compelled to share my thoughts on this subject.
I was horrified by what happened at Sandy Hook and subsequently organized a candlelight prayer vigil on the Cumberland Mall on Dec. 18. Many local pastors came to offer prayers and comforting words. Many residents of the area attended, despite the cold and windy conditions that night.
My heart truly goes out to all of the families involved, including the shooter’s family. I have prayed for all of them on a daily basis and will continue to do so.
However, I am outraged by some of the ludicrous statements made by so-called “journalists” (a better description would be narcissistic sensationalists), most notably, Piers Morgan from CNN.
We need to view these incidents with objectivity and common sense, versus knee-jerk responses. Yes, these terrible events spark intense visceral emotions. We want answers and solutions and we want them now. Unfortunately, there is no absolute readily available remedy.
Mr. Morgan, and other media personalities, would like to promote the idea that if we are stripped of our Second Amendment rights there will never be another massacre in our country.
Mr. Morgan loves to refer to how peaceful and non-violent his native United Kingdom is because guns are prohibited. If it is so safe there, perhaps he should return since he is not a citizen of this country.
He is only here because he is being paid an obscene amount of money to strut and pontificate before the camera lenses. Also, he faces criminal charges in Britain related to his former position with the Mirror newspaper.
The truth is, the U.K. is much smaller in size than the U.S. and the number of violent crimes committed there are high. People are killed with knives, bludgeoned to death, raped, etc. You don’t need a gun to kill someone.
We found out, sadly, on 9/11 that you can wipe out thousands of people with a commercial airliner and some box cutters. We learned from Oklahoma City that a truck filled with cow manure can kill hundreds and even thousands of people.
So, if we use Mr. Morgan’s logic, knives, planes, box cutters, hammers, baseball bats, motor vehicles, and animal feces should be outlawed.
Yes, I think intense background checks are necessary. However, as a mental health professional, I can attest to the fact that, unless a person makes a specific threat to harm themselves or others, HIPPA laws prevent the mental health community from reporting a person’s behavior to the authorities.
We are bound by ethics and law to protect patient confidentiality. Many mentally ill people are intelligent and treatment-savvy. They know what not to say to avoid inpatient treatment or arrest.
In closing, I would ask you to consider the fate of citizens in countries that confiscated guns in the last century.
Bottom line: Unarmed civilians were herded like sheep to concentration camps, gas chambers, prisons and firing squads. Torture, starvation and disease are also a means to kill thousands.
To those who say the Holocaust never happened, I offer my condolences for your intellectual deficits. I have seen pictures taken by my father of the concentration camps he helped to liberate as a World War II tank commander in the U.S. 14th armored division.
I’m sure those images haunt him on a daily basis. I’m also sure that he’ll fight to keep our Second Amendment rights viable.
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Rogue governments and dictators have absolute power.
Renae D. Bloss, CAC-AD
Cumberland
Editorials
Consider the fate of these people
- Editorials
-
-
Walk Smart
Many local residents will be visiting Ocean City this summer, so it is worth noting that the resort has launched a campaign that it hopes will keep pedestrians out of harm’s way.
-
Frostburg’s Bridge Program was important
After hearing rumors of possible changes being made, I just wanted to take a few minutes to put into words what the Frostburg Bridge Program meant to me as a child. Growing up in Frostburg, my parents were small business owners, my mother a teacher, and my father worked for the postal service.
-
Trailer case bound to increase scrutiny on town of Piedmont
This letter is in response to the recent story concerning the guilty plea entered in federal court by Piedmont’s town foreman (“Piedmont town foreman Shingler enters guilty plea,” May 21 Times-News, Page 1A).
-
Fixing community’s problems starts with your young people
I am writing this letter to the editor because I think our community really needs to work on plenty of issues. Some of them are:
-
High priority
Maryland school officials on Tuesday put an exclamation point on the need to take student-athlete concussions more seriously.
-
Cashing in
As anyone who lives in the area knows, economic gains have been hard to come by in recent years. The opening of the Rocky Gap Casino Resort is one of the biggest boosts the region has seen in some time.
-
Why have the media been silent all this time?
When I read the Cumberland Times-News Editorial this morning, Friday, May 17, entitled, “Outrageous,” I laughed like a kid at a birthday party!
-
What are chances this much money will be spent on road?
I was intrigued by cost data summarized in reporter Kathy Mellott’s recent article, “Completing southern link of U.S. Route 219 said to be best use of highway funds,” which appeared in the Cumberland Times-News on Tuesday May 14 (Page 1A).
-
School board should be doing better job with less money
The Allegany County Teachers Association (ACTA) board of directors recently submitted a letter to the editor asking the Allegany County commissioners to fully fund the Board of Education’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year (“Commissioners should fund school board request,” April 29 Times-News).
-
Better ‘Click It’
If you notice more police on the highway this week, it’s for a couple of reasons.
- More Editorials Headlines
-
