OTTUMWA —
There is no more intense emotional response than to killing children. Everyone says we must do something. No! We must not do something, we must do the right thing. Hard problems are solved with hard facts, hard work and hard decisions, not emotional responses. Let’s look at facts.
We have had an abundance of guns since the Civil War, but school shootings are recent. The worst U.S. school massacre did not involve guns. Those willing to commit multiple murders do not care how many laws they break. Looking at 65 school attacks, 100 percent of the attackers were using antidepressants. We will never be able to stop every shooter at the door.
We must develop a strategy to stop them after they are past the door. We have thousands of average people who, when growing up, were told that they were so special that they could be, do and have anything. When they realized this is nowhere near the truth, some became so angry they decided to inflict as much pain as possible on society and often started where they were taught this lie.
The gun control legislation being considered isn’t even designed to stop massacres, it is designed to reduce the body count. Gun control sounds like a quick, easy fix. The real injustice of ill-conceived legislation is not that it unfairly penalizes those doing their best to abide by the law, but that it does not protect anyone. It hasn’t worked. It won’t work. We need to quit pretending we have an answer and get real. We can do better.
Paul Halferty
Ottumwa
Letters to the Editor
January 30, 2013
Quit pretending we have all the answers
- Letters to the Editor
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- Why do they lie? Why do people lie like a plumber, telephone repairman or an electrician? You call a plumber to come and fix your drain. They tell you they will be there around 9:30 a.m. You stay at home and wait for them to come. Here it is -- 9:40 a.m. -- no plumbe
- Youth Field Day a great success Youth Field Day a great success We would like to express thanks on behalf of the 154 students and their parents for the efforts put forth by the various groups and individuals who sponsored the Youth Field Day events held at the Izaak Walton League
- Proud of Bridge View Center This past weekend, educators from around the state of Iowa and the Northwest Regional Director from Canada attended a convention held at the Bridge View Center. The women educators were members of Delta Kappa Gamma, an international society that prom
- No respect offered at funeral No respect for a deaf man at his mother's funeral. My friend didn't know what was going on in regards to his mother's funeral. He thought the hearse would take his mother to the cemetery. I told him no, cremation was the plan. His relatives did not a
- Thankful for excellent educators Editor's note: The following includes excerpts from a 1981 retirement for Alice Lee. While strolling by the shores of the Des Moines River, I ran into an interesting group. Now, you must understand that this wasn't the normal family group you often
- Don't bury your head like an ostrich Don't bury your head like an ostrich History teaches us about human nature. We learn from reading others' experiences through books, magazines, letters and photos. It allows us a treasured glimpse into the soul of man. Usually, we see the good in o
- A rush through paradise In last week's "Mini Page," the article headlined "Experience Gravity," it mentioned Isaac Newton and his apple. Now if this apple had fallen through a hole and another apple at the same time and same altitude in say, China, with equal force, fell th
- Ottumwa is an amazing community Ottumwa is an amazing community Ladies and gentlemen of Ottumwa … THIS is what you are. After completing my military career, I moved my wife and four small children to Ottumwa. After spending my life traveling and moving all over the world, I now
- Lemonade stand unfairly targeted Recently, my kids and their friends wanted to have a lemonade stand at our home on North Court Street. This is something we do very often and have for the last five years since we moved here. A police officer showed up informing us that someone had c
- No Headline Provided Kudos to whoever hired the camp hosts (Mary and Rich) for Ottumwa Park. They made us feel welcome from the moment we pulled in. You can tell they are very hard workers and take pride in what they do. The entire park was very clean, and the showers st
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