Letters To The Editor

WASHINGTON STATE

Gates needs a window on gun safety

I was under the mistaken impression that Bill Gates is an intelligent businessman and an asset to Washington. Supporting Initiative 676, with the damaging language of gun control, shows a lack of information and common sense on his part.

I-676 is not a safety initiative. It is an attempt at gun control. Part of it calls for trigger locks. Anyone who has used trigger locks knows they cause even experienced gun owners to swing the muzzle in unsafe directions, and if not properly applied, they will allow the gun to be fired with the lock on it.

This measure would effectively make guns more dangerous.

No law has had an impact on safety. No one puts a seat belt on because the law says he or she must. People wear seat belts because they have been educated about accidents and deaths. Illicit drugs are illegal, but we educate our children about the dangers, and we do it in the school system. Education is the only answer to gun safety.

Teach your children about guns, even if you don’t own one, because a child’s first exposure to a firearm shouldn’t be left to chance. If you don’t know anything yourself, find someone to help. Learn so you can make informed decisions, not emotional ones.

Let’s do something that really impacts children’s safety. Don’t expect a child to know what to do if he or she finds a gun. Teach them. Don’t expect costly, ineffective legislation to protect your children. That is the job of parents. Robin R. Ball, owner Sharp Shooting Indoor Range, Spokane

Another fascist gun control measure

Most proposed gun laws sound perfectly reasonable (“Gates solidly behind gun safety initiative,” June 21), but gun control is their ultimate goal.

Initiative 676 eventually will restrict the access of honest citizens to handguns. It will turn a right into a state-granted privilege at an undetermined cost to the taxpayers.

And why? The National Safety Council reports that gun accidents are at an all-time low.

Sadly, Initiative 676 is a done deal. Seattle, a liberal wasteland, has all the votes. As a result, Washington is a dangerous state for the unborn, a safe haven for those seeking to legitimize perversion and, now, a gun control mecca. Likewise, Seattle voters have blessed us with such notable Democrat buffoons as Mike Lowry, Patty Murray and Bill Clinton.

The National Rifle Association would present gun safety classes for free, but that’s not what the anti-gun fanatics want. They’re after gun restrictions, not safety.

Let no one be fooled. Seattle’s anti-gun extremists and their propaganda stooges in Spokane really believe that the only good gun, the only safe gun, is in the hands of the government. By coincidence, the Nazis promulgated the exact same thing.

I guess fascism never goes out of style. Curtis E. Stone Colville, Wash.

BELIEFS

Let God do the punishing

There are practical considerations to be taken into account in Timothy McVeigh’s case. Anger, hatred and revenge should be subdued.

Who knows if his execution eventually will encourage other outbursts of insanity against society? Who knows that the death penalty is adequate and just punishment? There is an understandable feeling among some of the many who lost loved ones that life without parole isn’t good enough. How can we, finite creatures, be sure of that? Perhaps it is the better of the two options. In either event, McVeigh will be justly punished by God, who is the final arbiter.

The authorities are responsible for protecting the public. Life in prison will do that.

Many may be surprised that, despite his crime, McVeigh still could go to heaven. He is still a human being with a mortal soul. His eternal destiny depends upon McVeigh. Public resentment cannot stop his going to heaven if he repents sincerely and pleads with God for mercy.

In some degree, we all have that decision to make about our personal eternal destiny. A need for divine mercy. It is well to remember in McVeigh’s case and any other that “it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.” Which is the best reason for giving McVeigh life without parole and letting God take care of his punishment, which is what will happen anyway. F.T. Westmeyer Coeur d’Alene

Strange take on biblical wisdom

Saundra L. Patterson’s statement “an eye for an eye …” is Old Testament law (letters, June 20). However, in Matthew 6:38-43, Jesus (who came to fulfill the law) added “turn the other cheek.” In Hebrews 10:30, we are reminded, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, … The Lord will judge his people.”

We have been commanded, “Thou shall not kill.” Is Patterson in favor of stoning prostitutes as well?

Her twist on the golden rule doesn’t work either. We are to treat others as we would have them treat us - always - and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Somehow, Patterson feels we should treat others as they have treated us. It doesn’t work that way.

“See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.” (1 Thessalonians 5:15).

Patterson closes her letter by saying, “Let’s do justice.” By executing Timothy McVeigh - or anyone else, for that matter - we punish their families. What crime have they committed? Look hard - you’ll find no justice there. Jeffrey L. Davis Greenacres

Scripture ‘very clear’ about abortion

As believers in Jesus Christ, we strongly disagree with the Rev. Linda Hart’s position (letters, June 7). Scripture is very clear about what God thinks of abortion.

First and foremost, God’s position is stated in Exodus 20:13. If that doesn’t convince you, Rev. Hart, then read Proverbs 6:17. These are just two examples of God’s view on this immoral filth that plagues our nation.

What is even more frightening is the example that is being set for our children. What kind of message are you sending to your congregation, your family and to the world? God’s judgment is forthcoming. David V. and Beth Carlson Spokane

Quick to judge Southern Baptists

Re: Debbie Kingsbury’s June 22 letter, “Southern Baptists big on bad judgment”:

Baptists believe the Bible when it says homosexuality is wrong. Read the passage in 1 Corinthians, chapter 6. Homosexuality is condemned in the same sentence as adultery and other sins. Walt Disney would be shocked by some of the shows now sponsored by Disney.

Kingsbury talks about Southern Baptists being judgmental. In the same letter, she calls Southern Baptists hypocrites. Who is judging whom? Edna E. Silver Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

GU trustees should explain action

As a recent graduate of Gonzaga University, as the wife of a recent graduate and as the mother of a current GU student, I am appalled at the way the trustees have behaved with regard to the Rev. Edward Glynn. Donating large sums of money to an institution, in my opinion, does not give one the right to pursue personal objectives at the expense of others - especially in a Christian institution.

If there was a valid problem with Glynn, I think that, at the very least, current students and parents of students have a right to know just what the problem is. The way this fiasco was carried out, it looked more like a lynching than a Christian institution being run according to the Jesuit tradition upon which it was founded.

Trustees, please remember what you are part of. Read over the Gonzaga University mission statement and be honest with your yourselves, us and God. Barbara A. Stapp Spokane

Cartoon exploited victims

A political cartoon in the June 16 Spokesman-Review used the image of the fireman holding an infant after the Oklahoma City bombing. This was in very poor taste.

It is poor taste to take an act of bravery, heroism and compassion on the part of the fireman and turn it into sick political humor.

I am not against freedom of speech; I value that concept. This cartoon stepped over the line when it used that tragic event in which so many lives were lost to argue against the death penalty. Tammy Lynn Carlton Omak, Wash.