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Vietnam vet questions logic of gun debate

I was barely 18 when I stepped off the plane in Saigon and was issued an M-16, the automatic version of the semi-automatic AR-15. I was still a teenager a year later when I left Vietnam. Over 58,000 Americans died there, most of them teenagers with an M-16 in their hands. Folks, we don’t have a gun problem; it’s a mental problem. Perhaps we should reinstate the draft and give these teenagers another option? —Tex Manus, Kalispell

Blame schools and culture for violence

Guns are not the problem; government schools are! First the courts took the Bible out of the schools, then prayer; however some schools are teaching the Koran and providing prayer rooms for Muslims. Does this make sense? Later the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem were discouraged or banned in some schools. Much of this was supported by the teachers unions. The movie and video game industry has a lot to answer for with all the gun and other violence they have produced in the last 50 years.

When we removed GOD from our schools (and our children) we were asking for big trouble and boy did we get it.

Abortion is the deadliest form of violence to children. Count the millions of babies that have been ripped from their mother’s womb with absolutely no defense. This court action has really changed the of value of life.

How many of these mass shooting have been committed by a student or adult who went to a Christian school, home school or other private school? I left school in 1958. My generation didn’t have these horrific situations.

The Second Amendment was not written to protect hunting; it was meant for protection of one’s self and country. The guns that the private individual had were the same as those needed by the militia, which was the USA’s military. The press only had a limited amount of print. Today the press has many types of powerful means to get information to the population, with very few government restraints. Why should the people have so many restrictions on how they can protect themselves and families? In the 1930s the FBI and the gun advocates came to agreements on various types and features. These include semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and handguns (not full automatic) ad these rules are still in place. —Dexter Hamilton, Kalispell

Gun policy being dictated by big money

The elephant in the room regarding sensible gun policy in America: MONEY. America worships money.

We also have a political system where we allow pretty much unrestricted lobbying and unrestricted political term limits. Therefore, super wealthy lobbying organizations like the NRA and big corporations “buy” our politicians with huge sums of money, and the senators and representatives do what they’re told.

We will never see significant change in this country until we outlaw lobbying “gifts” and restrict our politicians to one, maybe two terms, as we do with the presidency. And while we’re at it, let’s have our politicians be required to buy the same health insurance the rest of us have.

Capitalism can work, but it has to be sensibly socially restricted or greed takes over. And when greed wins, most of us suffer. —Paul Maurer, Whitefish

Grandparents don’t want to hear of local school shooting

My husband and I are graduates of Flathead High School, as are all three of our adult children, and one of our four grandchildren. The oldest of the four is a student at FVCC, the next oldest is a junior at Flathead High School, the next is a student of Kalispell Middle School, and the youngest is at Elrod Elementary.

Simply. we do not want to be the grandparent who learns of a school shooting at FVCC, FHS, KMS or Elrod. Enough is enough. This is not about gun control, it’s about loss of lives.

By the way, Flathead High School could have done better than l7 minutes AFTER classes for their memorial. —Arvin and Cheryl Amundson, Kalispell

How to end the slaughter in our schools

We are all combatants on the front lines of the war on terror and evil. Some of us are disarmed and expect police to protect us. However, they are not able to be present when the bullets fly and we are being mowed down by trucks, cars and bombs. Politicians have created kill zones where no guns are allowed and evil people are allowed to kill us with impunity. Politicians are responsible for the high body counts caused by the forces of evil as they have disarmed us on the front lines of this war leaving us as sheep being led to slaughter.

There are many school employees who would like to protect students with more than their bare hands if only the politicians would allow them. The federal Gun Free School Zones allow staff to bring a gun to school “as part of a program approved by a school in the school zone.”

The Montana Code Annotated 45-8-361 allows local Montana school boards to arm teachers, administrators and staff. An NEA poll of their members found 32 percent would like to be armed. This is already happening in some school districts nationally. In some districts the teachers carry concealed and in other districts they place their weapon in a gun safe located in close proximity to their work.

When terrorists attacked a school in Maalot in 1974, Israel did not create gun-free school zones. It passed laws demanding armed security in schools and giving weapon training to teachers and staff and even today Israel runs active shooter drills. There have been two school shootings in Israel since 1974 and both ended with teachers killing the four terrorists. This is what we need to do to end the slaughter in our schools. —Norm Johnson, Polson

Don’t let police sell weapons back to public

A few days ago I read an article about police departments across the country that “must” sell weapons back to the public as directed by law, including assault style weapons.

Given recent events I cannot believe there hasn’t been any reaction (that I have heard) to this practice. In my opinion the money made by selling these weapons cannot be enough to justify the risks of putting them back on the streets. Discovering that some law enforcement agencies are just as responsible for putting more guns back on the streets as any other gun dealer left me incredulous.

I have also wondered if there has been any follow-up as to whether any of this goes on in Montana. Or does anybody care? —Steve Mitchell, Bigfork

‘Support gun control’

Selecting this heading is meant to draw attention to an important discussion involving all Americans. That is, useless murders occurring in our country.

In 2014, the Guttmacher Institute reported 2,500 humans were murdered every day in our country by abortion. The majority of recipients identified themselves as Catholic, Protestant or evangelical Christian women. Deaths due to hospital error in that year were approximately 550 per day. Gun deaths averaged 82 per day (and the majority of these were from suicide or accidental).

If, since the violent shooters that are making the news today are male; then by today’s logic, taking guns from males would decrease the death from that means. Then, following the same line of reasoning, the deaths from abortion would be decreased by taking away abortion clinics from women. Make sense?

The violence we see, is not a gun problem. It is a cultural problem! It is the several generations of selfish adults that cherish their own happiness above training their children to know right from wrong, to recognize good from evil, to recognize the infinite value of life.

We all, who presume to not have any guilt or complicity in the culture we have created, will have to give an account— Jim Sisler, Polson