Letters: Lack of reasonable gun control killing Americans; Rec Hall leaving out fans
Lack of reasonable gun control killing Americans
Why are Americans more likely to be killed with a gun than citizens in every other nation in the world except Brazil? More U.S. citizens die from gun violence (100+ gun-deaths per day) than citizens of Mexico, Venezuela or Afghanistan.
Our school children live in fear. There have been at least 29 school shootings in 2021! Why is this happening?
Please stay open to facts:
The 2nd Amendment was an enacted to protect the states’ ability to counter the federal government. It made every citizen a part-time soldier. A rifle could take up to one minute to load, and “arms” had an entirely different meaning. No one in the 18th century could have imagined our 21st century assault weapons, which can kill one person a second.
In terms of personal safety, gun ownership makes you twice as likely to be killed with a gun.
What about an intruder killing you in your home? The annual per-person risk of death during a home invasion is 0.0000002! You are infinitely more likely to take your own life, or the life of a family member or friend, than shoot a burglar at night.
We control citizens’ ability to do many things with inherent risks, yet we are alone among modern nations in lacking reasonable gun controls.
The NRA (only 1.5% of Americans are members) has done more to get our citizens killed than any other U.S. organization. It’s time for the Republican Party to tell the NRA they’re no longer calling the shots!
Rec Hall leaving out fans
I am a second generation Nittany Lion wrestling fan, have been for almost 60 years. Just over two years ago, I was seriously injured in a vehicle accident. Since then, I have difficulty walking, and climbing stairs is even harder. I have held season tickets for many years, in a group with my family, and now can no longer attend events.
We have seats in section S-1 upper, which has made it impossible for me to attend. I have attempted to contact several people who could have possibly helped me get a seat in the lower area, and have had no response at all from anyone.
My question is this ... does Penn State cater only to those who are physically able to climb stairs? Do years of being a loyal fan mean nothing? I realize Rec Hall was built before handicap compliance, but there are lower seats, or room for a wheelchair? Just wondering.
No plans from Republicans
Can you imagine that one of our two major political parties has announced it has no platform, no legislative agenda, no guiding principles beyond “Democrats are bad,” to improve the lives of Americans ahead of next year’s election?
The Republicans have no proposed legislation to help us survive human-caused climate change. No sense of urgency about combatting the many forms of COVID that have already killed more than 800,000 Americans, mostly the unvaccinated. No plans to more strictly regulate the epidemic of gun violence sweeping the country on a daily basis. No leadership in quickly transitioning to renewable energy.
Instead, the Republicans are aggressively redrawing political districts in ways that make no ethical sense, but improve their chances to remain in power, even as a shrinking-minority of Americans support them.
The U.S. now ranks the worst we have ranked among nations since WW2 in political freedom, obesity, gun violence, public education, upward mobility, infrastructure, healthcare and, sadly, much more.
The Republican Party has no plan.
Meanwhile, Americans are enjoying a remarkably rapid economic recovery, record low unemployment, and rising household wealth. We can thank Biden’s economic plan for that!