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Letters To The Editor

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 19, 2008

Take The Guns Away

Regarding "Gunman Opens Fire On Class, Killing 5" (front page, Feb. 15):

Once more we have a tragedy on a campus. Only in this country can such things happen. We have let the National Rifle Association control the government. It is time for citizens to say "no more."

Why do we let these gun-rights advocates control how we control weapons in this country? I am sure that they will say let more people carry guns and this would prevent the violence. As we know this is not true. The more people that have guns, the more violence happens.

I plead with you, let's take our country back away from the NRA and make it safe it live here in the USA. Tell your government officials that we need to control the firearms in this country. Guns make a criminal. If we take the guns sway, nobody has them - even the criminals.

JAMES ZANDER

Lutz

Not Why, But How

OK, it happened again. A demented gunman walks into a school and opens fire. This time it's at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill. First thing we hear: why? The question should be not why, but how!

I wonder just what this school did to render this campus safe from any demented gunman. The university has been classified as "A gun-free zone." Wow, you just declare it a gun-free zone and we can all sleep at night with the knowledge that all's well in DeKalb! What in blazes were they thinking? Maybe, if he had a cigarette in his mouth, someone would have run him off at the door.

How many more students need to be slaughtered before these stupid administrators learn that four equally stupid words will not stop a killer? A gun-free zone is not like a smoke-free zone or a pet-free zone.

JAMES W. COAKLEY

New Port Richey

Media Aids, Abets Killers

So another crazy has gone to a public place and killed people. The media cover the event ad nauseam.

Is there perhaps a correlation? Do crazies kill people partly because they know they will become celebrities in the press? I say yes.

I accuse the media of helping people make the decision to become mass murderers because they will, as their last hurrah, become famous for a few days. If the media would briefly report the crime and withhold the name of the perpetrator, I believe it would lessen the occurrences of the sort of crime we saw last week

JIM HORTON

Tampa

Arm Campus Staff

Enough is enough: It is time we armed some of the school staffs with the fire power - and training - to stop these school shootings. Allow some of the teachers, instructors and professors to carry concealed weapons.

Stop this nonsense of someone walking into schools without any threat of opposition. To hell with the no-guns people. They cannot understand that a "no guns policy" means that only the honest folks will be the ones without guns and the bad guys will be the only ones with guns.

FRANK JOHNSON

Tampa

Why Are They Out Here?

Murderous rampages by "mentally deranged" individuals claimed the lives of several college students and a psychologist last week. Yes, these psychopaths brutalized their victims because they needed to be on medication and were not.

How many of these lunatics are walking among us? We're not allowed to know that because the laws protect the confidentiality of these lunatics' mental health records - even when the potential for their deadly onslaughts lie just below the shallow surface of their seemingly normal lives.

There must be some way to ensure such people are taking their meds and their behavior is under control; otherwise, they need to be confined for the safety of everyone.

JACK KARPAN

New Port Richey

More Explaining Needed

I must have missed it. I searched every page of The Tampa Tribune on Feb. 18 and couldn't find even a paragraph explaining what Presidents' Day was for. The only place it was mentioned was telling us what businesses were open or closed. Much to my dismay, the government offices were open as usual.

I remember another day when we celebrated the life of another American, who was never a president, and everything was closed. At least our schools were closed, but I'd be willing to bet the students don't even know why.

What is happening to our patriotism?

J. O'NEAL

Brandon

A Reasonable Solution

Regarding "Increase Cigarette Tax To Increase Hospitals" (Our Opinion, Feb. 13):

Raising the tax on cigarettes is a proven way to deter kids from starting to smoke and gives current smokers another incentive to quit. Every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by 7 percent and overall smoking by 4 percent.

Rep. Jim Waldman's proposal should provide for a 21 percent decrease in youth smoking alone.

Even Tennessee, a well-known tobacco-producing state, has introduced cigarette taxes nearly double those in our state.

Presently, Florida spends an estimated $1.2 billion on smoking-related illnesses and only takes in $427 million in cigarette taxes. With all the budget woes, it's time we balance the books.

Raising the tobacco tax by $1 per pack will raise approximately $822 million annually - a simple solution to the health care portion of our state's budget deficit and a highly effective way to reduce smoking. It seems like a reasonable solution to me.

WILLIAM R. GOWER JR.

Tampa

The writer is president of the Board of Directors of the Greater Southeast Affiliate of the American Heart Association.

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