Letters to the Editor, March 2
Politicians should do job or get out
Who is responsible for all the tragic shootings with assault weapons in the hands of beasts with no regard for human life? I accuse of President Donald Trump and all the Republicans, in particular, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who always maintain it’s too soon to talk about gun control.
It isn’t gun control that is needed; it is gun registration and investigation into the background of anyone who tries to purchase these guns of mass destruction and enough ammunition to last a legitimate gun owner a lifetime.
Drivers must pass tests before they can get a driver’s license. Automobiles are registered in every state in the union for a very good reason: to keep reckless and careless drivers from involving their automobiles in horrendous and fatal accidents.
Thorough background checks and licensing of guns is not a violation of the Second Amendment. The Founding Fathers included it in the Bill of Rights because of their experience when the states were subjects of the British crown. They were fully aware that governments and rulers across the globe had long been guilty of denying rights to their people.
Thomas Jefferson maintained that citizens in any nation had the right to rise up against tyranny and remove corrupt officials. The time has come for a call to action against these Republican leaders and everyone else who refuse to do their duty and honor their oath of office.
It is preferable to vote them out of office, recall or impeach them. Politicians, don’t force Americans to begin a new revolution. Do you job or get out.
Robert Nowlan, Marco Island
Site plan needed for park
I recently attended a meeting where our new Marco Island city manager, Lee Niblock, and the new director of community affairs, Dan Smith, spoke and learned that Niblock has an extensive background in parks and recreation and Smith is a landscape architect and urban planner.
When asked about Veterans’ Community Park, Niblock said he carries a copy of the master plan with him and that he “is on it.” He said he is not keen on paying consultants for something they have already done and that what we need is a site plan.
Our City Council members have been saying this for over a year and Councilman Larry Honig wrote to me in an email on Sept. 18 that “It is time to bring in the professionals.” So I’m just wondering why the proper professionals have not been hired to get the site plan done if that is what we need to move forward with phase two of the master plan.
The former Parks and Recreation Committee members spent 18 months to two years holding public meetings and workshops and visiting clubs and organizations to update the master plan to fit today’s needs. They presented their findings to the City Council who congratulated them and awarded them $250,000 for the “Site/Development Plans for Veterans’ Community Park.”
The last Marco Island Civic Association survey showed almost 80 percent support for a band shell in the park. The need is there, the w ant is there, the money is there. Hire the professionals to do the site plan now, so we the citizens and future generations can have the opportunity to enjoy what could be a world-class park.
We voted for it, we deserve it, we have been paying debt services on it for 14 years.
Dawn Kuhn, Marco Island
How many more?
If we kill another 50, will we have the conversation? If we kill another 78, can we then have the discussion? How about 128? Will that get the conversation going?
If we shed a million tears, will that help? Will a billion tears and more memorials allow for the discussion and the conversation?
How many more times will we see our political leaders offer their thoughts and prayers? Thoughts and prayers! Keep praying, but in the meantime, it’s simply time to have the discussion.
I’m not about taking anybody’s gun away, it’s about selling an AR-15 killing machine to an 18-year-old. Perhaps 17 kids would be alive today if the age to buy a killing machine would have been 21. Perhaps something would have come up on the radar that would finally alerted officials. It’s about money for school safety and not military parades. It’s about the absolute power of the National Rifle Association and the gun industry to buy politicians and the influence that money has on the gun issue.
How many more of our children must die before our leaders will have the conversation? Lack of meaningful discussion and political cowards will kill kids, not the guns of rightful gun owners.
Jack Hughes, Marco Island