This is Viewpoints for Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018

Past time to act

An Open Letter to Georgia U.S. senators and representatives

For the past several years that each of you have been in the United States Congress, there have been multiple mass shootings in schools and public venues. After each one, you have done nothing except offer “thoughts and prayers.” People say that this is not the time to talk about what to do, but we should spend time mourning for the victims and supporting the families that these mass murders have affected. I agree — this is not the time to act — this is past the time to act. It is unconscionable that nothing has yet been done.

This is an open letter to all of the Unites States senators and representatives from the state of Georgia to sponsor and/or support gun control legislation that includes the following:

1. A ban on all “assault style” weapons.

2. Expanded background checks.

3. A ban on high capacity magazines.

4. Charge the CDC with researching the health/safety aspects of gun ownership.

It is time to do something.

Fed by fear

It's time to band assault rifles for civilian use.

I've been both an infantry rifleman and deer hunter. The deer hunters I know would laugh a hunter out of the lodge who showed up with an assault rifle and a large capacity magazine. There is a deep current that runs in many hearts, fed by a fear that someday we will have to defend the lives of our family and ourself against a massive assault, either from our own government or from a civil uprising.

The irony of all this is the actual carnage taking place in our schools and other gathering places of innocents.

Stand beside a parent looking into the empty void of their child's bedroom.

Our leaders have been either silent or spoken empty words, absent of courageous action. Even now the silence is being broken by the angry voices of those too young to vote or serve in office.

Perhaps you say, "But what about keeping my arsenal to protect us from an oppressive invasion of a gone mad world?" I say, haven't we yet discovered the truth of what really happens more often in the face ravaging disaster, want or danger. Witness the outpouring of unselfish sacrifice done by total stranger who say, over and over, "I'm no hero, I just did what anyone would do."

We need both the vigilance of witnesses of potential threat to act and speak up and greater sensitivity to the lonely and alienated among us.

Nothing likely can be done

Putting as much politically-charged emotion aside as possible, it seems that there are some conclusions that can reasonably be reached regarding the 2016 election. There was significant influence in the process by Russia. This influence took the form of a misinformation and attacks on the Clinton campaign. Many “ghost ads” fueled the existing strong feelings of division. It likely affected the outcome to the point of the U.S. having a president not chosen in an unfettered democratic process. The exact degree of influence in numbers will not likely ever be known. It would seem that the key influence was not in the conversion of existing beliefs but in the drive to get out and vote against Clinton, primarily fueled by fabricated stories and unremitting repetition regarding e-mails. Whether there was collusion or whether Congress has the will to do anything if there was is yet to be seen. It is highly likely that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller will find impeachable offenses before this is all over. In the current political environment, impeachable offenses are a long way from impeachment proceedings.

Problem is deeper than guns

Another tragedy has struck our nation. Another mentally disturbed young man has felt it necessary to shoot down people in a school. The first thing the liberals want to do is take away guns from everyone. I know I personally think that normal, peace-loving people do not need assault rifles unless they are gun collectors, but that is not my point.

Our nation is struggling with no moral code or ethos. We have taken God out of our lives, and with that respect for others. We also face another problem, disintegration of family. There are so many one-parent homes. These parents work all day and have not time for their kids. Read the paper and you will find child abuse at least monthly and sometimes weekly. Until we straighten up these problems, I am sure, respect for life will continue to fall. We need God, family and respect for one another.

We set all this in motion

From the very beginning of the shooting in Florida, every one started calling for gun control. "Guns do not kill, people do!" From the walking dead to dozens of current TV shows, there is a vast array ways to kill people. The young undeveloped minds soak up these constant horror stories. Parents allow them to watch violence and buy them games and films that show carnage 24/7.

Add to this the drug explosion going on and forget finding the shooter in time. The mass shooter that killed the most folks ever would not have been discovered by any model known. The point about America is more dangerous than anywhere in the world can be rationalized by all of the above. Remember that trash entertainment is so embedded in our society that we are looking for a "miracle!"

Why Hillary?

Now that the results are in concerning Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russia’s affect on the U.S. presidential election, a question remains unanswered: Why did the cyber attacks favor Donald Trump and discredit Hillary Clinton? It seems to me the Russians should be promoting Hillary, who, as secretary of state, signed off on the sale of a substantial amount of the U.S. uranium to a Russian interest, Uranium One. Hopefully, she will eventually be investigated for this and so will the Clinton Foundation, where nearly a million dollars was donated by the Russians to secure the Uranium One deal.

This story was originally published February 20, 2018 at 9:00 AM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018."