To the Editor:
Go out to one of Greenwood’s Little League games and enjoy seeing boys and girls play the American sport.
Just before the first games start for the day or evening, the young players line up along each foul line. Baseball caps off and right hand over their hearts they honor our country as the “Star Spangled Banner” plays. But in turn, does our country honor and respect our children? Currently, we see little evidence that it does.
America’s biggest failure is its lack of action in protecting our children from the fear of having their schools raided by crazies who use weapons of war, AR15s and similar automatic rifles, to slaughter them and their teachers. The Republicans blame this problem on the lack of mental health programs. The Democrats blame it on the open mass sale of weapons of war to the public. The Democrats want to prohibit the sale of these type of weapons to the public. The Republicans say no!
So the killing sprees go on day after day, month after month. The Republicans want to arm the teachers. That is crazy, but the NRA loves the idea. Gun sales would skyrocket. What if a teacher accidentally kills a student? Or a student grabs a loaded gun that was accidentally left on a teacher’s desk and tries it out? Horrfying!
Our country is the only country in the world that has this problem. If we the voters don’t stop this carnage who will? The Republicans won’t even help because they are part of the problem. They receive cash rewards for being silent and/or turning their heads and pretending it does not exist. There is only one solution to this insane problem; outlaw the sale of these types of automatic rifles which are designed for mass murder and/or battlefield use.
The Republicans say no. So when we vote, we say no to the Republicans across the ballot. Vote for candidates who want to solve this terrible American problem.
When you vote in this and next November, vote intelligently. Know more about the candidates. Vote for your children first. Take a good look at them. You love them. Ask yourself who is responsible for the death of all the child victims? We the parents and grandparents must share some responsibility because we do little or nothing to support preventive legislation. We do nothing to support candidates who have possible beginning solutions to our mass killing sprees.
So we, the voting public, must vote out Republicans that stand in the way of providing a safe environment for our children. I know Indiana is a “red” state but party politics must be set aside in favor of the children.
Richard DeTorre
Greenwood
