It would be disagreeable to many, but …

Those on the right like to assert that, “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” To be technical, I suppose, one might assert that it’s the bullets that kill people. Or perhaps, “it’s people with guns and bullets that kill people.” Clearly though, if any of those three are eliminated, bullets would not be killing people. Those on the right propose that to stop the killing we should be focusing on mental health, not the guns. Does it follow that once a homicidal maniac is identified and calmed down they may then be provided with an assault rifle or not? Who would make that decision? And how do we identify the maniacs before they act?

By definition an assault weapen is one that fires repeatedly with one trigger pull. Most so-called assault rifles for civilian use do not do this; the trigger must be pulled every time a bullet is fired, (semi-automatic). But this would still allow for one or two shots per second, and might even give the shooter enough time to actually be aiming at something. It is no less deadly than a fully automatic weapon.

Then one must ask, “Just why does one need an assault rifle even of the civilian variety? They certainly offer no advantage when target shooting or hunting. Those wanting true accuracy wilI usually choose a bolt-action rifle. It would seem that their main advantage would only be realized during the course of a mass murder or perhaps in defending the home and family against an alien invasion, or onslaught of zombies. What Rambo fantasy must one entertain to require possession of an assault rifle?

It would seem then that any ban on guns short of banning all semi-automatic weapons would be pointless. Although it would be disagreeable to many, it would seem far more effective to permit trained school personnel to carry weapons and to advertise this fact at all entrances.

G.J. Mayer, Lino Lakes

No person that unstable should ever have been able to get a gun legally

A mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School has left two kids dead and 18 people injured in another solely American tragedy of gun violence. Media coverage was predictable with the now impotent “thoughts and prayers,” blaming the trans community, mental illness, how could this happen here, etc. But what I found most alarming was the articles outlining the depth of the shooter’s mental illness juxtaposed with the articles assuring us that these weapons had been lawfully purchased. Don’t look at the guns, nothing to see here, they were purchased lawfully. Is that supposed to make us feel better that someone so messed up can lawfully buy as many weapons as they want?

Since Columbine, every mass shooting has people scrambling to find a reason or a motive and they find that each mass shooter has had a different motivation or grievance, from mental illness, to revenge, to just pointless random slaughter. I ask, what difference does it make? Every country in the world has people as messed up as people here, but none have this level of gun slaughter. The common thread to all these senseless tragedies is easy access to guns and easy access to weapons of war that were never meant to be in civilian hands. It’s like a treatable cancer that we refuse to treat and allow to spread and metastasize while consuming us and our children from within. To prove my point, consider this, the leading cause of death for children in the United States is gun violence. Let that sink in, American children are more likely to die from a bullet than any other reason. If the leading cause of death of children was a disease or cancer, we’d do anything to stop it. But since it’s guns, we just look the other way. What can we do, it was purchased lawfully? Obviously, the laws aren’t working, and it’s way past time to change them.

The police chief called the shooter a coward. No, this person was mentally unstable, mentally ill and should never have been able to purchase weapons lawfully. The real cowards are our politicians who are the only ones who can do something to protect our children from this slaughter but choose not to. This memory of this tragedy will fade, and these cowards will do nothing until the next time guns kill our children and they feel they must send out their meaningless thoughts and prayers.

Greg Kvaal, Mendota Heights

Focus on the problems that cause people to resort to crime

Here we go again. The tragedy at Annunciation School has brought out calls for “gun control” once again. Every time I see calls for gun control I’m reminded of the line from a western movie — a gun is a tool like any other tool, as good or bad as the person holding it.

I happen to own a shotgun and a handgun. Perhaps I didn’t realize that I bought well-behaving guns because they haven’t caused a bit of trouble. Guns don’t commit or cause crime — it’s the person holding it. Instead of focusing on guns, focus on the mental health issues and community problems that cause people to resort to crime. If guns didn’t exist criminals will find other methods just as deadly.

Wes Ziebell, South St Paul

Our Minnesota laws are not adequate

The sadness still raw in me after the horrific school shooting at Annunciation parish, I was expecting a better response from one of our Minnesota legislators. Sounding miffed that Gov. Walz did not consult key legislators before calling a special session, she stated her conviction that our gun legislation is “adequate.” I couldn’t disagree more.

Our lawmakers are failing us until they not only ban but buy back every assault rifle in Minnesota. There is no rational reason for these military weapons to be sold, owned or otherwise available in our communities. Get them out of our lives. And our children’s. And our elders’. Together, we have a right to feel and be safe.

The sole pediatrician, Dr.Roy Guerrero,  who received the remains of the slain children in Uvalde, Texas, described what came to him  as “pulverized and decapitated.” Good grief! What more needs to be said?

Our “red-flag’ law evidently failed at Annunciation school in Minneapolis. Why? Is that failure not reason enough to love our kids more than guns and strengthen our response to mental sickness? No, our Minnesota laws are not ‘”adequate.” With more work and persistent effort, we can and must do better.

John Forliti, St. Paul

More enforcement, not more laws

By definition, criminals do not obey the law. Therefore, passing more laws will be totally ineffective in reducing crime. It will only infringe on those who are law-abiding. More enforcement will be effective along with increased investigation into those with mental health issues. Invasion of privacy rights is justified to save lives.

Al Spannbauer, North St. Paul

What’s different

There have always been people who will harm others. Our country and our time is no different. What’s different is the destructive power of modern weapons and U.S. law allowing ready access to them.

That we are stuck in this recurring nightmare of preventable tragedy by lawmakers’ deference to a 234-year-old amendment, written in a time when there was no concept of mass shootings, is absurd.

It’s time for politicians who’ve turned a blind eye to this carnage to address the children and parents traumatized by the Annunciation Church shooting. They need to tell them why unfettered access to assault weapons is more important than schoolchildren’s safety. And a number of Republican lawmakers — the ones who wear AR-15 lapel pins — need to come face-to-face with the two bereaved families, look them in the eyes and explain why they value these weapons more than their now-deceased children.

Rich Cowles, Eagan

Track the guns

The Second Amendment that stalwarts espouse maintains the right to keep and bear arms. Fine. Give it to them to close the door on that argument.

Those steadfastly defending these rights believe they extend to all forms of weaponry that can be kept and borne somewhere on the human body.  Not fine but OK. Don’t argue so they can’t litigate the issue.

But Congress, or state legislators, can and should do something or need to be voted out of office come the next election. They can pass legislation that requires firearm registration. Simple registration poses no infringement on the right to keep and bear arms as envisioned by the Constitution’s framers.

So the first logical step toward addressing this nation’s runaway gun problem appears to be a mandatory national firearm registration program. You own a firearm, you must register it.

But as simple and innocuous as gun registration is, it would do little to impact gun violence.  Something more is needed.

Mandatory gun tracking is needed. A chip inserted into the stock to allow monitoring of the weapon as we do with pets. Again, this does not impact the ability to keep and bear arms.You can keep as many as you want and bear them to your heart’s desire.  But they will be trackable; nothing in the Second Amendment about monitoring those who have firearms.

Finally, a national policy that committing a crime with an unregistered firearm or one without a chip doubles down on the crime automatically. Take away the get-out-of-jail free option.

And on the US Patent Office website are several patents dealing with remotely detectable ammunition.  If achievable this would give law enforcement a tremendous tool to monitor concealed weapons and prevent their entry into sensitive locations.

These steps are painless to those adherents of the Second Amendment, but might move us toward some semblance of firearm responsibility.

If our leaders have the guts.

Mark Schreiber, St. Paul

Where is all that money going?

According to an article in this week, the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment results are in for 2025. St. Paul Public Schools tested between 90-92% of their students during the last school year. St. Paul Public Schools has a current yearly budget of $1 billion, with a referendum going on the ballot in November to get even more money from taxpayers. The scores are dismal, with only 26.6% proficiency in math and 34.8% proficiency in reading. The district touts that test scores are up 0.5% and boasts that the student achievement gap is improving. A 65-75% failure rate is nothing to be proud of.

If the $1 billion that was poured into the district last year isn’t moving the needle to increase student achievement, where is our money being spent? We always hear that these referendums are “for the children,” yet these results show that the kids are not benefiting from this huge influx of cash. We will be voting “no” on the upcoming November referendum. They already have enough of our money … they need to change their spending priorities and get back to teaching the basics of reading, writing and math.

Cheryl Hanzlik, St. Paul

Looking back, some things seem clear

Hurricane Katrina is being remembered on its 20th anniversary for its impact on New Orleans and the role that race played in making decisions to combat its damage. I was recently driving past my high school alma mater, St Paul Central. With the six extra weeks of summer school added by the Board of Education I was able to graduate with the class of 1961 in July and still was able to start at the U of M the following September. Race was probably even more a factor then than now in serious areas of our life. Apparently “White Society,” of which I am one, felt that there was an unwritten rule that “Negroes” did not live west of Lexington. I found this interesting since I was the oldest of a large family and after our most recent eviction we were now living east of Lexington on Marshall in what I felt was a nice four-bedroom home. I found Central to be a friendlier school than the parochial school we could no long afford. It was no secret that the faculty and Jewish students were all looking forward to the time when Highland high school would open. This was primarily a matter of convenience. This was long before open enrollment.

Another open secret was the playing out of the draft with what race you are. I was included in Ramsey Local Board 97 which apparently covered a large area between Lexington and Dale. Each board had a certain quota of inductees per month it had to produce and if there were not sufficient volunteers that number had to be made up with draftees. Those young men who came before the court were often offered a jail time or service in the military to choose from. Another factor which could be used was if possible joining a local military reserve unit. Local units were filled very quickly so the next option would be to drive 100 miles or so per week to attend the next closest rural unit. These types of systems were tailor made to increase inappropriately the number of African Americans who  ended up in the military or, ie, Vietnam. Draft deferments were often a product of who your doctor was or who you knew. Apparently reporting having bone spurs to your draft board was a way men received deferments. Basically the fabric of our society ritualized the draft system. So I guess I was not surprised when, in my second year of a not-so-stellar academic career, I received, without requesting it or having a physical, a 2S educational draft deferment, probably on the same day unknown African American males were being inducted by Draft Board 97. Being Catholic I have plenty of room for guilt.

Mike Greeman, Woodbury

Call things by their right names

This week it was reported that the International Association of Genocide Scholars stated that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide” and also crimes against humanity and war crimes. Daily we see murders of 40 and more persons in Gaza, a third seeking food for their starving families. 2,000 people have starved. They even bomb hospitals and try to kill journalists who report these crimes.

There are five conditions for the crime of genocide, including deliberate intentions to do it. Prime Minister Netanyahu offers Palestinians in Gaza two choices:  die or move to another country. This is genocide. Amnesty International produced a 263-page report last December with solid facts and analysis; you may get it at www.amnesty.org.

As Confucius said:  To solve a problem, call things by their right names.

Gary King, Fridley

Control by the president

Crime is ever present, but the rate has fallen in many of our cities over the last 30 years. It will not be eradicated by President Trump’s interference with local control. As mentioned by Jill Colvin and Linley Sanders from the Associated Press, money spent on sending the National Guard into cities “would be better spent … in community policing, mental health services, and passing meaningful laws to get guns off city streets.”

Control by the president is not support of the local institutions and those elected officials. Trump’s real purpose is to take over cities, states and ultimately the nation. This approach makes it a Trump government, which is not a democracy.

Don Ausemus, St. Anthony

Enough with the constant fair plane

I live in one of the neighborhoods that surrounds the State Fair. I have lived in this neighborhood for most of my life and I love the State Fair, to the point that I embrace all of the extra traffic and liveliness that happens in my neighborhood during fair time. With one exception: the airplane that constantly flies overhead towing a banner.

This plane flies all day long for every day of the fair, and the noise level is insufferable, to the point that it makes it impossible to enjoy spending any time in my yard for the entirety of the 12 days of the State Fair, which includes the Labor Day weekend which is supposed to be a time of rest and connection with family and neighbors. In addition to the outrageous noise level from this plane, it is clearly running on fossil fuel which means it is expelling all sorts of pollutants into the air directly over the fairgrounds and the surrounding neighborhoods. The air quality is bad enough during the summer from the Canadian wildfires, and to allow this plane to fly overhead for almost two weeks at the end of the summer is terrible public policy.

The State Fair has certainly changed and evolved over the years, and it is time to put an end to the noisy, polluting plane that no one wants.

Please put an end to this plane for the future State Fairs.

Mitch Anderson, St. Paul