JOPLIN, Mo. —
Well and truly said, Blaine Cornelius (Globe “Your view,” Jan. 31). Leave it to the politicians to never miss an opportunity to preen before the cameras, holding themselves up as protectors of the people, while their true and less-than-honorable motives remain hidden.
The Founding Fathers were beyond wise when they included the provision of a right to bear arms. Their memories were fresh and they took measures to protect this country from a repeat of history — something we have seen happen many times in many places since then, but not here, at least not yet. We must not let their foresight and our freedom be trampled on by the self-serving, or those mistakenly being led down the garden path.
Guns need people in order to kill, and the people that use them to kill are almost always mentally ill, as was the case in Newtown, Conn.
The cost of treatment for mental illness is beyond the reach of most everyone, especially those in need. Sure, there is forced commitment in a state facility by the courts. But the limited stay is hardly adequate for the seriously ill, and they are released, ready or not.
The gun is not the cause of Newtown, Columbine or the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting. The person with the gun, no matter the kind, is the cause. The same effect could be had with a bomb — remember Timothy McVeigh.
The person bent on killing will find a way. You cannot take away every source available to them. Taking away guns would not eliminate the killing, but it would take away one of our most important and essential freedoms. We need to focus on the cause of the killing — not the instrument.
Dianne Slater
Joplin
Opinion
Your View: Focus on the cause
- Opinion
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Other Views: Still inspiring
Cutbacks in the military budget and the still-recovering economy mean this Memorial Day weekend will go down as a relatively subdued affair — relative, that is, to our usual end-of-school, official-start-of-summer blowout.
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Our View: Setting standard
The sight of hundreds of young student volunteers walking across Moore’s Fourth Street interstate overpass had to be uplifting to the city’s tornado victims.
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Our View: Safer schools
Being able to see for ourselves what would have happened to our children had they been standing in the main hall of their schools during the May 22, 2011, tornado had a profound effect on our understanding of safe schools.
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Marilyn Beasley, guest columnist: Claiming responsibility for abuse of power
Over the past few months we’ve witnessed the abuse of power by President Barack Obama and his administration.
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Our View: ‘Why?’ has no answer
Just hours before, there was breakfast and laughter. There were pictures on the walls and memories in every room.
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Our View: Absent from House
We can’t figure out why two Missouri legislators think they should be elected to the U.S. House when it appears they can’t seem to show up to take care of business in the Missouri House.
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Your View: Terrible injustice
I see this Jasper County nuisance law as a terrible injustice on the rights of the residents of Jasper County.
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Your View: Should we be outraged?
Were there effusive apologies following the lockdown of Boston as most of the continent indulged vicariously in the ongoing manhunt?
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Your View: Terrorism is terrorism
In the May 13 issue of The Joplin Globe there was an Associated Press article concerning the New Orleans shooting.
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Phill Brooks, columnist: Missouri Senate did what Founding Fathers had in mind
George Washington once described the Senate as being like a saucer in which you pour coffee or tea.
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Other Views: Still inspiring
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