Gun regulations made easy
The right to have weapons seems to be the wish of many of the supporters of the Second Amendment. Great. However, there is no mention or right to have gunpowder or bullets. So restrict the sale and ownership of ammunition. Place large taxes on the purchase of the same. There are limits on the loading of shotguns for hunting so limit the amount of ammunition that can be loaded into all weapons.
Arthur Garrett
Oro Valley
Inflation
Re: the June 17 letter “Ticked-off consumer.”
I can completely understand your frustration with paying higher prices for everything, and those struggling from paycheck to paycheck are really having a hard time with it. Human nature says that if we didn’t create it, we all want someone to blame for it. Although you want to blame President Joe Biden instead of Vladimir Putin the inflation is worldwide, and as long as our country trades with other countries we are going to have to be affected by it. Once more, if we don’t support Ukraine fighting for her freedom then we are being in danger of losing our own freedom. Most things have advantages and disadvantages … no free lunches. Because we live in America instead of Russia, you have the right to blame whoever you want without being put in jail.
Elain Geary
East side
Roe v. Wade and Constitution
I am so sick of hearing/reading that the Supreme Court just overturned a constitutional right. The Constitution does not mention abortion in any manner. I think abortion was not an issue when it was created. Even if it had been practiced, it would not have been worthy of mention in the Bill of Rights or as an amendment.
Douglas Meriwether
East side
Big step backward
With the demise of Roe v. Wade, the United States has taken a huge step backward. We have gone back in time to a very dark place. There is simply no other way to say it. I am disgusted, and I am saddened. We all lose.
Jim McKeen
West side
Abortion compromise?
Re: the June 29 article “Time for compromise on abortion.”
As someone who just watched the Supreme Court take away a constitutional right I’ve held for my whole life, I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to read an opinion piece about why my civil rights should be compromised written by someone who never will be in a position to need an abortion. This is exactly what has been missing from the discussion about women’s rights: the perspective of a conservative man on why the Supreme Court ruling is a good thing. Sarcasm aside, Jeffrey McConnell needs to read the room. It is not a positive thing that a woman’s right to make decisions about her own reproductive system is now up to the whims of our state Legislature, especially when that same body politic tried to cancel our votes in the last presidential election, repeatedly tries to limit our ability to vote in the future and regularly overturns voter initiatives if they do not like the results.
Jennifer Larson
Northwest side
Bureaucracy needed to protect all eggs
Re: the June 25 article “Which Ariz. abortion law will be enforced?”
In the 18th century, the Austrian ruler Maria Theresa, who bore 16 children, created a Chastity Commission to punish subjects who engaged in illegitimate love. Perhaps this was a precedent Samuel Alito had in mind when he unleashed a frantic competition among the states to enact the boldest attacks on abortion. The question here is “Which Arizona abortion law will be enforced?” Abortion opponent Cathi Herrod said the state has authority to interdict abortion-inducing medications, and that it may be possible to block Plan B pills. Let’s follow the logic. Since the ultimate goal is to protect all fertilized eggs, Arizona girls will need to be tracked from the time of menstruation. This could be done with chip implants, say, or monthly checkups. As in the time of Maria Theresa, the policy would apply to all social classes, no exemptions. And no contraception.
This scheme will require a bureaucracy, and I suggest naming it the Egg Council. Herrod could be its first commissioner.
Robert Laux-Bachand
Green Valley
TB testing has value
Re: the June 25 letter “Dump TB testing.”
Tuberculosis and other diseases of antiquity have killed millions, but today we have proven surveillance tools and preventive measures to protect us.
The CDC and the state of Arizona advise testing certain people for TB infection, including residents of long-term care facilities/nursing homes and homeless shelters, as well as health-care workers caring for patients at increased risk for TB.
Active TB spreads through the air. It can infect lungs, brain, bones, kidneys and other organs with fatal results.
About one in four people worldwide are infected with TB. In many, it is asleep, but it can wake up when those people are malnourished or weak from other problems. COVID-19 survivors with weakened immune systems may suffer reactivation of TB, Valley fever or other infections that they contracted years ago.
Please support science education and public-health measures. Our future depends upon them and leaders who recognize their value.
Steven Oscherwitz,
MD Infectious Disease
Northeast side
PBS real news
Reading some of the letters to the editor and the often asinine and sophomoric responses to these letters, it is pretty obvious that some of the writers are getting their information solely from Fox News. Such a pity. They apparently have no use for what they call mainstream media, which admittedly has its faults, but is way better at reporting real news than Fox.
I would suggest people try tuning into “PBS NewsHour.” They will learn that this show recaps real news of the day followed by discussion segments with credible guests that often offer opposing views of a subject. No shouting, no insults, just rational arguments that go in depth and may last good portions of the hour. Best yet, no commercials.
Granted, “PBS NewsHour” is not for those easily distracted or those wanting to hear rude, sarcastic, mindless, one-sided yapping. But if you have a certain level of curious intelligence you may find “PBS NewsHour” a breath of fresh air.
William Muto
SaddleBrooke
Losing democracy
Sixty percent of Americans support continuing to make abortions legal. Sixty-six percent of Americans think it is important to pass stricter gun laws.
Decisions by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and weaken gun control in the state of New York do not correlate with the desires of American citizens. Are we moving away from democracy and heading toward authoritarianism? I believe we are. Unfortunately, most Americans seem unaware.
Stuart Sellinger
Northwest side
School voucher giveaway
Re: the June 26 article “Vouchers approved for all AZ students.”
Face it. It looks like the school voucher program is nothing more than a handout to the more wealthy. The less wealthy (many of them) cannot afford the tuitions, so they cannot take advantage of the program. The wealthy can afford the tuition, so they just have to pay less now. What a good deal for them. Thank you, Arizona legislators.
Dale Hutchings
Northeast side
SCOTUS
Please remember this: SCOTUS does not make laws. It’s purpose is to determine if a law adheres to the Constitution. Additionally, the “will of the majority of the people” is not a reason for a ruling one way or the other on any and all cases brought forward to SCOTUS.
Mark Moral
East side
Scarce water
The Star missed an important solution in reporting on the Legislature allocating $1 billion to address our water crisis. First, ask where is most of the water currently being used? Answer: Agriculture — about 70%. Why not look there first for savings? We’re not an agricultural powerhouse like Iowa, so why are we extravagantly flood-irrigating square miles of pecan orchards, only to see them go elsewhere? Let’s change tax laws that currently promote this kind of extravagant use to support residences and businesses that make sense for our arid state. Instead of building pipelines to Baja and the Mississippi, let’s use that money to buy out farmers and their water rights, prioritizing those that we need locally, such as dairies. There are more practical solutions along with conservation that will actually solve this problem, but ignoring agriculture for political reasons undercuts this effort from the beginning.
Tim Helentjaris
Northwest side
School vouchers for the rich!
Re: the June 26 article “Vouchers approved for all AZ students.”
I think the entire debate about vouchers for private schools and parents’ choices is predicated on a fundamentally flawed concept of education embraced by those who think only of their kids’ achievements and ignore the needs of our nation. First, taking away money from public schools does not improve them; second, supporting private schools with tax money is deeply unconstitutional, undermining the separation of state and church; third, when parents claim that they know best what their children need to learn, they simply want them to be indoctrinated; fourth, the more educated our entire populace is, the better for society at large; fifth, racial and religious separation by means of private schools worsens all of our lives and creates new lower classes and hence social conflicts. More important, education serves to help children grow intellectually and socially and is not supposed to make them puppets according to their parent’s wishes. The future needs critical thinkers, creative minds, socially and environmentally responsible individuals, not robots or slaves.
Albrecht Classen
Midtown
Expanding self-defense
Last week, the Supreme Court struck down a New York state law severely limiting the issuance of concealed carry firearms permits and carrying firearms in public. Anti-gun Democrats and their news media aligners went ballistic. The conservative justices on the court believe that self- defense is a God-given right and not just applying to the home. I do not think their decision was “pro gun” as much as it was an expanding of one’s right to self-defense. As opposed to abortion, there is a Second Amendment in the Constitution related to the right to bear firearms. There are numerous letters, speeches and state conventions from the 18th and 19th centuries that show that our founders believed the Second Amendment protects individual gun rights. Samuel Adams said a Bill of Rights should include a guarantee that the “Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress … to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms.”
Alberto Torres
Northwest side
What’s next?
By now, we all know that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. What’s next? I would hope that our Gov. Doug Ducey would consider three things before allowing any restrictive abortion laws take effect. He needs to consider rape, incest and the health of the mother. Any one, or all three of these can happen. If this did happen to, say, a 10-year-old girl, it could scar her physically and mentally for the rest of life if she were forced to carry to term. Any one of these instances needs to be reason enough to allow an abortion.
Gov. Ducey, you need to consider these three factors. Make them a part of any and all of new laws covering abortion.
Steven Barker
East side
AR-15s for fetuses
After the two Supreme Court decisions this last week — one ending the constitutional right to an abortion and the other severely limiting gun control, I can foresee a future ruling allowing a fetus after 15 weeks the right to purchase, own and carry an AR-15, as is clearly allowed by the Second Amendment to our Constitution.
Charles McDonald
Northeast side
Roe v. Wade
In her editorial in the New York Times on Sunday, Linda Greenhouse answered the question of why the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. “Because they could.” It was not based on law, what’s in the Constitution, precedent or, God forbid, the overwhelming will of the American people. No, it was because of their religion, their “base” and politicians who, like all despots, use religion for their own purposes and mischief.
At 86, I have seen many of the halcyon days of America and I am not pleased to have to leave a vastly and quite rapidly changing United States to our also changing citizens. I hope those who remain will remember the truthful and unyielding advice of the latin maxim — illigitimis non carborundum. “Don’t let the bastards wear you down.”
Donald Behnke
Oro Valley
