WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MARCH 15, 2018 13
LETTERS AND COMMENTS OP-ED
BLAME THE LEFT
FOR GUN PROBLEMS
I read the editorial in March 9 issue,
“Whose side are they really on?”, about
guns and the blame placed on Republicans
and the National Rifl e Association
(NRA).
I can commiserate with many students
today aft er shooting rampages
at schools and colleges. They see it as
a major issue, as they can be future targets
of shooters. Much as in my school
days of the 1960s and early 1970s when
the Vietnam War was by far the primary
issue. In my day we saw the war as
a senseless, tragic, wasteful aff air. For
the youth of my day, we oft en felt like
no one was listening to our concerns.
There are as many Democrats and
politicians of all parties who are
gun owners as the Republicans and
conservatives who are accused of
supporting the NRA. Likewise nearly
all of the liberal Hollywood elite, many
of whom have openly admitted to
possessing guns.
The enemy is not the NRA, Republicans,
Donald Trump or his supporters,
Tea Party, conservatives. The fault for
the recklessness of gun users is the liberalism,
permissiveness, “do your own
thing” mentality that was essentially
started by the political left .
Americans have been gun owners
since the republic was founded. Growing
up in the 1960s, nearly everyone
in the neighborhood had a gun. Never
once did anyone go berserk and initiate
a gun rampage. It was not until the
permissive, “do your own thing” 1960s
that reckless behavior slowly changed.
As with many other issues in
this country, such as immigration,
race, terrorism, obesity and climate
change, the problems persist because
we are not having an honest and open
discussion. So long as the blame is
tossed upon the NRA, Republicans,
conservatives, gun owners, etc., and
not the real sources, the sad situation
will go on and on and on.
Edward Riecks, Howard Beach
Editor’s note: Last week’s editorial,
and our past editorials about
gun control, clearly stated our belief
in the preservation of the Second
Amendment. We repeat our view that
assault weapons should be outlawed;
one does not need — nor should
one desire — an AR-15 or similar
military-grade weaponry to hunt
or protect their home. The Second
Amendment does not prohibit, in our
view, Congress from enacting new
gun measures.
It should be further noted that
the “do your own thing” mentality, of
which the author speaks, infl uenced
Canadian and European culture
as much as our own. Canada and
nations in Europe also have fi lms
and video games depicting graphic
violence — yet these nations do not
have the level of gun violence that our
nation currently experiences.
What those nations do have in
common, however, are stricter gun
laws. We wonder why our Congress
won’t adopt the same.
Email your letters to editorial@
qns.com (Subject: Letter to the
Editor) or leave a comment to any
of our stories at QNS.com. You can
also send a letter by regular mail
to Letters to the Editor, 38-15 Bell
Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All letters
are subject to editing. Names will be
withheld upon request, but anonymous
letters will not be considered
for publication. The views expressed
in all letters and comments are not
necessarily those of this publication
or its staff .
Congress keeps shooting blanks on guns
BY STEVE ISRAEL
It’s tragically ironic that I left Congress
to write novels, and that my
next book deals with why Congress
does nothing on the issue of gun violence.
I started writing my book in December
2012, as I sat in my local office in Hauppauge.
The Sandy Hook massacre had
killed 26 children and adults. I watched
families clutching each other. Watched
tears stream down then-President
Obama’s face. Watched the pundits and
commentators assure us that Congress
would act. Finally. That the murders of our
precious children would not be in vain.
I knew back then that I’d be inundated
with questions about how Congress
would respond. Would it enhance background
checks? Reinstate the assault
weapons ban? Limit magazine capacities?
I was confident that we would do
something. Doing nothing when our
schoolchildren are massacred would be
the most shameless act of cowardice in
recent congressional history. Back then, I
couldn’t believe that Congress would put
political calculation ahead of kids.
I was wrong. We did nothing. Zero.
Since then, there have been 200 other
school shootings that killed 400 people, according
to the Gun Violence Archive. And
what has Congress done? Again, nothing.
I witnessed hard lessons. About Political
Action Committee (PAC) contributions,
voter intensity, base politics, the might of
gun manufacturers, the competition
within the gun lobby. So I wrote.
Sitting through hearings and markups
and the most asinine debates imaginable.
Hearing some of my colleagues
defend the rights of suspected terrorists
to carry weapons instead of the right of
students not to be shot in their classrooms.
Listening, while almost punching
through my keyboard, as my colleagues
explained that this was a mental health
problem while doing nothing to increase
resources for, mental health.
In this case, their cheap talk was
deadly. I became pretty skeptical. Snarky,
actually.
I hope that this time the voices of high
school students will carry from Florida
to Washington, D.C., and across the nation.
I hope they fi nally shame Congress
into action.
And I hope you join them. Because
many of my former colleagues are betting
that you’ll be drowned out. That
you’ll turn this page, click another
link, become distracted by the latest
presidential tweet.
Your voice won’t make a diff erence
everywhere. There are places where
pro-gun gerrymandering might as well
have shaped congressional districts in
the shape of an AR-15 assault rifl e. So
work on the state level to elect offi cials
who will draw better districts aft er the
2020 census — districts where you might
actually see bumper stickers that say “I
Remember Parkland & I Vote.”
Just as important, understand that
states are fi lling the policy vacuum
created by a currently obstinate Congress
and spend time and money on
those local races as well. Or, you can
keep doing what you’ve been doing:
Recycle your rage at the deaths of our
children. Elect the same people, watch
the same press conferences, feel the
same shock, sadness, anger. And, before
long, scratch your heads trying
to remember what ever happened at
Parkland.
As a member of Congress, Steve Israel
represented New York’s Third Congressional
District, which included northeast
Queens. His next novel, “Big Guns” may be
ordered at repsteveisrael.com, or directly
from your local bookstore.
The 1964-65 World’s Fair Monorail can
be seen running next to the Long Island
Expressway looking east in this gem of
a photo from the Queens Library digital
archives. This portion of the monorail ran
around the Lake Amusement Zone. In the
distance, at left, you can see the Better
Living Center and the Picture Tower of the
Eastman Kodak Pavilion. Send us your
historic photos of Queens by email to
editorial@qns.com (subject: A Look Back)
or mail printed pictures to A Look Back, ℅
Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd.,
Bayside, NY 11361. All mailed pictures will
be carefully returned to you.
A LOOK BACK
Photo via Queens Library Digital Archives, digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org
link
