Monday’s Letters to the Editor

Arming citizens

EDITOR: When do mass shootings by psychopaths end in this country? These mass murders would end with stiff gun control laws. Under the Second Amendment, we cannot force citizens who purchase firearms to be evaluated for mental disorders at this juncture. We cannot take guns away from law-abiding citizens or those who possess firearms to protect themselves and their families from criminals, home invasions, etc.

If the purchase of guns is prohibited for law-abiding citizens, then only criminals will have firearms. Criminals will always find a way to possess firearms. Guns are taken in burglaries, ghost guns are smuggled into our country.

I wonder what would happen if citizens armed themselves and, when a situation like the one in San Jose occurs again, and it will, maybe lives could be saved by those who lawfully own and carry firearms.

Also, what is it going to take to start doing mental evaluations on a person before they are allowed to purchase a firearm? Yes, firearms kill, but in the right hands, they save lives.

Remember, the average response to a 911 call is five to seven minutes. A lot of can happen in seven minutes.

GARY LOONEY

Santa Rosa

Sonoma County’s history

EDITOR: I am delighted to learn that the Ruth Asawa sculpture panels will be preserved in bronze (“Asawa’s sculptures to return — in bronze,” May 30). They are a rich tapestry of Sonoma County’s history and culture. I have missed them since the fountain in Old Courthouse Square was dismantled. I have fond memories of taking visiting Ukrainian delegations from Santa Rosa’s sister city to see Asawa’s work at the beginning of their exchange visits. The artwork depicted not only the history but also sites that they would later visit, where eyes would light up in recognition of the Round Barn, Armstrong woods and Fort Ross.

My question: What will happen to the bronze panels once preserved?

CATHERINE HELD

Petaluma

Shirking their duty

EDITOR: The Republican Party that cooperated with the investigation of Watergate morass, leading to the resignation of a disgraced President Richard Nixon, no longer exists.

Failure to pass a bill to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the violent events of Jan. 6 shows just how few congressional Republicans retain any sense of duty to the people they were elected to represent.

Leaders of the party made frantic calls to the White House asking for help when the crowd, baying for the deaths of Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had them fleeing the danger zone, grateful to be protected by the Capitol Police, whose deaths and injuries they now decline to investigate. Indeed, in the immediate aftermath of that dreadful day these “leaders” made publicly recorded statements placing blame on the former president.

Now, these same people have bowed their heads to a corrupt, twice-impeached former president because they want the voters to continue to support their quest for the power and privilege they regard as owed to them, no matter what damage is done to our nation.

I wonder how they explain to their children and grandchildren the moral legacy they are bequeathing to them and to the Constitution they all swore to defend

PATRICIA F. CLOTHIER

Santa Rosa

World War II liberation

EDITOR: I was also a little girl growing up in occupied Denmark during the Second World War (“Grateful for liberation,” Letters, May 31). I remember the happiness and excitement everybody experienced when we heard the war was over. The U.S. and England had liberated our country.

However, we lived at the small island the Russians invaded. I will always remember them passing our house in their big vehicles. Then came the bombing of the two bigger towns with loss of people; very sad.

An agreement was reached, and about a year later the Russians departed. The island could have been Russian today, but the U.S. and England saved us. My heart also is filled with gratitude.

HELLE THOMAN

Santa Rosa

Klamath conundrum

EDITOR: I find it ironic that 1,400 irrigators in the upper Klamath Basin who use Klamath River water to irrigate their potato and alfalfa fields are ready to incite violence to protect their federally created water rights (“Water crisis deepens on California-Oregon border,” May 15). They seem willing to wrest control of and open the head gates of irrigation canals administered by the feds.

These irrigators have a myopic vision, limited by an understandable self-interest. However, their welfare is one part of a huge ecology revolving around Klamath River water, a small part. Should Klamath Basin grown potatoes and alfalfa disappear there would be no impact on America’s food supply. None.

As a proactive response to climate change, the feds should help these 1,400 families develop new skills, perhaps to move on to new homes. It’ll take a generation to do so. Today’s drought is a harbinger of things to come. Water is a precious resource. Potatoes and alfalfa supported by man-made irrigation are not. The families growing these crops are.

JEFFREY J. OLSON

Santa Rosa

Keep El Molino’s name

EDITOR: Since Analy High School alumni oppose spending “large sums” to change the Analy name (“Changing school names,” Letters, June 1), why not consider naming the consolidated school El Molino High School? This would be absolute fiscal responsibility. El Molino has a reputation for academic and extracurricular excellence and a roll of distinguished alumni in multiple fields.

JULIE BRADY

Santa Rosa

You can send letters to the editor to letters@pressdemocrat.com.