A Wake-Up Call for Gun Control
The nation is focused on the attempt by a 20-year-old to assassinate a candidate for president of the United States.
In 2024, the nation has experienced 300 mass shootings (four or more people shot and killed, excluding the shooter). We could experience 500 by year’s end. In Georgia, more than 1,900 die and 5,000 are wounded by guns every year. Gun violence is the biggest killer of children in Georgia. Between 2013–2022, gun violence in Georgia was up 56%. Mass killings occur at schools, churches, hospitals, shopping malls, entertainment venues and in our streets.
We have contacted our congressman, state representative and state senator. All are members of the majority party in the Georgia legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives. We provided the horrendous statistics on gun injury and death in our state and nation, and information on measures which reduce gun violence. They refuse to support any of those measures. Why? Because they simply do not care. We can and must elect members of the state legislature and Congress committed to action to end the massacre of the innocents.
Shocked by the assassination attempt at a political rally? Don’t be. You are far safer at a presidential rally than your children at school or you at your place of worship.
It is long past time to elect members of the state legislature and Congress who are committed to attacking this endless cycle of murder and mayhem.
Bruce Menke
Athens
Let Me Haul My Own Trash
Now our (formerly) beloved ACC government is going too far!
They have over the years encouraged us all to recycle everything possible, and I have been doing it. I compost food scraps, I recycle metal, glass, plastic and (separately) plastic bags, and what’s left (mostly potato chip and dog food bags) goes into a couple of drums that I take to the dump once or twice a year. Recycling is working!
So why do I need to pay for trash pickup? I don’t. Not only do I not have any trash to speak of, but my driveway is a quarter-mile long. It would be quite a chore to roll a cart to the road.
But many folks who do get trash pickup complain (understandably) about all the trash trucks (there are five different commercial haulers) that come through their neighborhoods. The county government proposes instead to assign one hauler to each part of town (fine with me!), and to require all residents in that zone to sign up with that hauler. (Huh? Even if I don’t need trash service?) The rationale for this is that haulers need guaranteed customers in order to figure out what to charge. (Really? Since when?)
Well, no doubt any business would love to have government-mandated customers—competition and service could go out the window. What I don’t understand is, why are the desires of private haulers being placed above the desires of citizens?
John Huie
Athens
Biden Made the Right Choice
President Biden made a decision that was not for Joe Biden; it was for our country. He had the wisdom and dignity to know when it was time to step aside as candidate for president and concentrate his energy on serving out his term effectively. President Biden will go down in history as one of the best and most dedicated men in the presidency. His honesty and experience will always be the characteristics we can remember him by.
I am thrilled that Vice President Kamala Harris will probably be the nominee in his place, and feel strongly that she will continue President Biden’s calls for calm in a troubled world. She will work tirelessly for women’s rights to self-determination and continue the effort to care responsibly for our planet. Her expertise as a prosecutor, attorney general and U.S. senator will be obvious as she takes on her opponent. Her respect for and understanding of our Constitution is obvious. I hope my fellow citizens will join me in supporting the person most qualified to fill the shoes of President Biden. We now have a clear way forward for all Americans, not just the super-wealthy or the cynics who want to see a reversal of the progress our country has made for the past one hundred years.
Conolus Scott
Danielsville
Scott is the District 10 chair for the Democratic Party of Georgia and a candidate for state Senate in District 47.
Get Rid of Mike Collins
We know that Congress needs to enact immigration law reform to restore order to immigration into the United States. Isn’t that what everyone wants?
Last February, a bipartisan group of senators presented a comprehensive immigration law reform bill. The bill was endorsed by the U.S. Border Patrol. Everyone conceded the bill was not perfect. Bills that receive bipartisan support in Congress rarely are. What happened to that bill? Donald Trump knew that if this bill passed, he could no longer stridently insist that the Biden administration and the Democrats in Congress were refusing to address and solve the chaos at the border. Since this has been his main rallying cry, the passage of this bill would be a disaster for his presidential campaign. So, Donald Trump insisted that his supporters in Congress kill the bill. Trump’s supporters, like District 10 Rep. Mike Collins, were only too happy to oblige and refused to consider the bill.
So now what? Trump continues to decry the crisis at the border, falsely claiming the Biden administration and the Democrats in Congress refuse to solve the border problem. Unfortunately, there will be some uninformed voters who believe Donald Trump’s false narrative. Don’t be one of them. We need to elect a member of Congress in November who will finally get the job done. And that is not Mike Collins.
Mary Bo Robinson
Bogart
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