Collins Chooses Guns Over Constituents
During the two weeks prior to Oct. 6, more than 350 people signed the following letter:
Dear Representative Mike Collins:
We, the undersigned, are your constituents in Georgia’s Congressional House District 10. In response to the recent tragic shooting at Apalachee High School in your district, we demand that you:
- STOP using violent gun-centered language and images in your communications on social media and elsewhere. This language contributes to a heightened atmosphere around guns.
- VOTE for sensible gun safety regulations that would keep our children and community members safe, including:
- a national Pediatric Health Safe Storage Act.
- the reinstatement of an Assault Weapons Ban.
- H.R. 3018, the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act (also called the “red flag” law).
We delivered the letter on Oct. 7, following a rally in Monroe the previous day during which speakers described the ravages of unregulated gun access and offered sensible legislative solutions. Politicians, including Collins, have blocked these solutions, even though activists emphasize they have no interest in abolishing the Second Amendment.
We expect elected representatives to follow the wishes of and work to protect the lives of their constituents. Yet Gov. Brian Kemp, Rep. Collins and Rep. Andrew Clyde—three politicians closely connected to Winder—ignore the fact that a large majority of Georgia voters support laws like those we mention in the letter above. “The problem is not the gun,” Collins said in response to the Apalachee shooting. “We have guidelines right now called laws; we don’t need more of them,” says Clyde. All three featured threatening gun images in their campaigns.
It’s outrageous that these politicians and others choose unlimited access to lethal weapons over protecting our children and community members. As voters, we have the power to hold them accountable. If safety from gun violence is important to you, we urge you to use your ballot to send Representatives Clyde and Collins a message: “By choosing gun rights over your constituents’ right to safety, you have abused your responsibility. You’re fired.”
Members of Indivisible Georgia District 10 and Moms Demand Action: Nicole Broerman, Watkinsville; Barbara Burt, Athens; Michael Castengera, Athens; Bob Covi, Athens; Karen Covi, Athens; Joan C. Curtis, Athens; Lorri Donnahoe, Athens; Pam T. Davis, Bishop; Shelbey Diamond-Alexander, Winder; Linda Gilbert, Athens; Nakita Hemingway, Monroe; Marisue Hilliard, Watkinsville; Bruce Menke, Athens; Karen Menke, Athens; Marilyn Wolf-Ragatz, Athens
Lessons in Hatred
Candidates Donald J. Trump and J.D. Vance see their path to election as persuading us that we must fear and hate a long list of people: those who are not white; with different religious beliefs; government officials, including governors, secretaries of state, election administrators, judges and members of the FBI; asylum seekers; the “elite” (with college degrees); those who served in his administration and state that he is unfit to be president; Haitian immigrants in Springfield, OH; cat ladies; women who do not have children; school teachers; the tiny group of transgender people; members of the LGBTQ community; voters in large cities (who vote for Democrats) and many more. According to Trump, these people are ruining our lives, and we must give him absolute power to attack them, put them in jail, use the military against them and to get revenge for the awful things they are doing to us.
Trump and Vance tell us that Haitian immigrants, in the country legally, are eating our household pets, and that our children are, unbeknownst to us, being given sex change surgery. Are these people making our lives a living hell and destroying our country? Really? Will we give Donald Trump the power he seeks to destroy our democracy in the name of defending it?
Our votes will determine whether we continue to have a democracy or if Donald Trump succeeds in obtaining the power he seeks to destroy it. It is up to us to make sure that Donald Trump does not get his wish.
Bruce Menke
Athens
Yalamanchili Will Keep Us Safe
Good people of Athens, please do not politicize the district attorney’s office. It is too important to our safety.
I spent 25 years working in the criminal justice system, and I know first hand there is much that can be improved. I believe Deborah Gonzalez’s heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, she does not have the training or experience to properly bring a case to trial and win a conviction. When the DA’s office releases violent felons over and over again, and victims’ rights are violated over and over again, law enforcement and the courts are justifiably frustrated. No one can change an organization from the inside if they cannot perform the basic operations of that organization. In order to change a system, one must be able to work with all the other systems with which it engages. Because she is not experienced in the intricacies of criminal law, Gonzalez does not have the respect and the working relationships it takes to make those changes.
Kalki Yalamanchili is running as an Independent. He is doing so because he honestly believes that the DA’s office should not be a politicized position. He clarifies that belief to both sides of the aisle when he speaks. He took the time, the energy and the money to make that statement clear and to run as an independent.
You will see “Kalki for DA” signs near others you do not support. But please look deeper than that for your safety and mine. We need a DA that can follow the law, competently bring cases to trial, win convictions, give justice to our neighbors who have been victimized by violence, follow the crime victim’s bill of rights, and most importantly have the skills to train new prosecutors. Those are the qualities that keep a community safe.
Nancy Hunter
Athens
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