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People’s column — March 11

Reed must act on weapons

Editor, OBSERVER:

This is an open letter to U.S. Rep. Tom Reed.

Your response to the latest massacre in a Florida school is unacceptable. Seventeen young adults are dead. Dead, Mr. Reed, dead. Your response was, “Let’s not over-react. We don’t need a knee-jerk reaction.” That’s the same response you gave in 2012 after the school shooting in Newtown. And nothing happened. Nothing. Knee-jerk reaction Mr. Reed, really?

Mr. Reed, you should have shown leadership and advanced the passage of common-sense gun safety laws after the Newtown massacre of 26 elementary students in 2012. Congress should have passed common-sense gun control after the murder of 33 students at Virginia Tech University in 2007. And Congress should have passed common-sense gun control after the slaughter of 13 high school students at Columbine High School in 1999. And that is not even going into the mass murders of movie-goers in Colorado, worshippers in Texas, or concert attendees in Las Vegas. What was the common factor? The massacre of Americans by a semi-automatic weapon in the hands of an American born terrorist.

Mr. Reed, stop taking blood money from the NRA and pass responsible legislation which eliminates the ability to own AR-15 weapons, legislation that puts in place critical licensing and background checks, a system that requires registration and a three-year renewal. We are not calling for a ban on owning a gun. In fact, some of us are hunters who own guns. But semi-automatic assault weapons have no place in civilian society.

Mr. Reed, do we have to wait until a place like Bath becomes Newtown or Corning becomes Parkland? Please act, before it’s too late. Protect our children in the 23rd District.

MICHAEL GABRIELLI, SHAWN HOGAN, HILDA LANDO, LINDA LEIBHART, BILL MATTINGLY, ANDY MAZZELLA, KELLY PENZIUL and JOE WELCH,

Corning

We must protect our children

Editor, OBSERVER

I heard recently on the news that they want to raise the age to own a gun to 21 years old. So does that mean that our military men and woman will not be allowed to carry weapons if under 21 years old?

But, you will send them into harm’s way with a gun and then at home you will tell them they are too young to own one.

Never gonna fly folks. Let’s start small, let’s revamp our schools under a federal code of security given to our federal buildings and court systems. Even if it takes metal detectors, surveillance cameras at entrance points, security checkpoints and ID tags for students.

I still wonder how that student was able to bring a AR-15 into the school?

Did it have any security at all? All this talk about gun control will lead us no where with both sides feeling they are right.

Lets make it near impossible for any mad man to bring any harm to students in schools by implementing serious security steps at all schools. This would be a giant step in curtailing these types of school shootings and other forms of violence.

We are living in a much different society than years ago and we must update our schools to meet those needs, like it or not.

JAMES R. LISA,

Silver Creek

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