Letters

Definition of creepy

Upon reading Philip Martin's column, "Let's not offend the hard believers," I have finally been moved to write a letter to the editor.

Mr. Martin references Charlton Heston's quote about prying his gun out of his cold dead hands and the familiar saying, "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun." He calls that creepy, nutty, vile, etc.

I find that these descriptors apply better to his opinions expressed in the first part of his column. Referring to the functioning of a gun, he says, "There is an undeniable erotic tug to the instrument, a palpable frictive pleasure available in the snug and oily workings of bolt and chamber."

If anything is creepy, I think it is Mr. Martin and the oily workings of his brain.

Perhaps he should stick to turning out irrelevant movie reviews.

REBECCA WOODARD

Rheas Mill

Little common sense

Be very suspicious when the left calls for common-sense anything; I think it ain't in their DNA. The latest leftist mantra in their quest for gun confiscation is "common-sense gun control." It seems leftists do love their focus-group phrasings that are always designed to conceal their actual intent.

Of course gun control, like unfettered abortion, is apparently a major plank of the leftist Big Government agenda, and with their very own Big Brother/Big Government fanatic in the Oval Office in Barack Hussein Obama, it's "strike while the iron is hot" time. I believe Obama wants gun control, forget common sense, so bad he can taste it, and of course we know how this America-hating president can be trusted, don't we?

If pointing out the patently obvious makes me a wild-eyed conspiracy theorist, so be it.

Point being, when people start saying "let's all reason together," there's a motivational requirement for that, and pardon me for not being an idiot, but leftist gun-grabber fanatics have given us real common-sense folk no reason to trust their agenda. Zilch, zero, nada.

No to making the Second Amendment just another Obama-ignored law in his apparent quest to disarm America.

QUINCY JACKSON

Rogers

Get around pain issue

There has been quite a bit of info in your paper and on the news lately about the death penalty. My letter is not about whether I am for or against the death penalty, but about the actual process of ending inmates' lives.

In a recent paper, inmates argued that the three-drug protocol creates a "risk of severe pain."

How much pain did the inmates cause to their victims?

Secondly, since inmates are filing lawsuits, is there a drug available that could be used to put inmates to sleep, maybe the same/similar to what is used when someone is having surgery? Then the drugs to end their lives could be administered.

SHIRLEY HENDRICKS

Maumelle

Liability for damages

When used for their intended purpose, guns kill or maim animals and people. It is foreseeable that the gun you own may cause injuries or death, just as the car you drive may cause injuries or death.

We require automobile owners to carry liability insurance. We should require gun owners to carry liability insurance for each gun they own. Gun owners should be held strictly liable for all damages caused by their guns. Strict liability means that it makes no difference whether you were negligent.

It is your gun and you are liable for any and all damages caused by the gun, even when a thief takes your gun and uses it in a robbery.

The Supreme Court has ruled that you have the constitutional right to own guns. There's not a constitutional right not to carry liability insurance. This would no more infringe on your Second Amendment rights than automobile insurance infringes on your right to own a car.

States must protect their own citizens. Strict liability would force gun owners to keep their guns safe and away from children, crazy people, thieves, and those prone to violence. Your insurance payments would go up, just as car insurance goes up, for repeated occurrences.

Strict liability will encourage gun owners to keep them safe. The NRA won't like it, but the majority of us will. State governments have a duty to protect their citizens.

Vote against any candidate backed by the NRA!

RUUD DuVALL

Fayetteville

Live our lives in peace

I support Bernie Sanders for president. He says we need a mental health revolution. I agree. Unfortunately, he equates mental health with gun violence.

Yes, America has a gun crisis and a mental health crisis, but the two are not inclusive. People who are suicidal don't need a gun nearby, but that's not the only solution. The majority of gun crimes are committed by people without mental illness.

I am a disabled veteran with bipolar disorder/PTSD and have recently attempted suicide. I didn't have a gun. My wife suffers from PTSD from a violent attack years ago. We have three children. Americans like us need medical attention and need to be treated with respect and dignity.

Most people who have a mental illness refuse help because of stigma fomented by the press and politicians every time there's a mass shooting.

Americans don't want to seek help because they fear they will lose their jobs. They're afraid friends or family will say they should just pull themselves up and think positive thoughts, which I and my wife have both been told. Worse, friends and family may shun them.

The mental health crisis is caused by ignorance and lack of compassion on the part of the general population who don't believe mental illness is a medical problem.

The vast majority of us with mental illness just want to live our lives in peace and raise and care for our children in a safe and healthy country.

PATRICK GRAY

Cabot

Editorial on 10/13/2015

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