Letters to the editor

Column on gun control off baseI have to say Mr. Bauman’s opinion about gun control is a bit off base. His comment about registering all fire arms is a page out of “The Dictator’s Handbook.” Mr. Bauman, do you remember Hitler, Mao, Stalin and Marcos, to name a few? These people had their citizens register their firearms, then using these lists went door to door and confiscated all the guns. The people then got concentration camps and jailed. In the words of Rep. Henry Waxman, “If someone is so fearful that they start using these weapons to protect their rights, makes me nervous that these people have these weapons at all.”As far as seniors with weapons to defend themselves, what do you suggest? How about teaching cane defense or oxygen bottle karate? Many older folks do not have the physical capabilities to fend off an attacker, so what can they do? Your NCO saw your shortcomings when he told you to throw your forty-five at the attacker.Gino VenagliaStagecoachNarrowing Carson’s main street a mistakeThe narrowing of Highway 395 in downtown Carson City is an attack on the charm and history of Carson. Parking is not an issue in my opinion. There has always been a spot, we have never had to circle and circle. But the drive through town with the decorative wrought iron and trees is the most appealing in the area. If anything, it invites you to stop and shop as it is. We have lived near areas that tried to change the retail dynamics of the downtown by making parking more convenient, and they have all been failures. Supervisors, your decision seems ill-advised and uninformed. Charming and befitting the capital of Nevada, it is still a major highway. I bet that there are many more voters who love the area as it is than there are retailers asking for a change. Surely there are better ways to spend your money.Terri BeauchampMindenTeachers are in the real worldIn response to reader Rob Cobb, “Most teachers never really function in the real world,” I became a teacher when I was 42 years old because I wanted to make a difference in a world I thought was in decline. I put myself through college on what I had intended as retirement savings, no loans, no grants. I did it all with cash and my credit card. That was 14 years ago, and I am still going to school to be better at what I do. I work with some of the higher-risk students because they are good kids, and I want to give them chances they may not otherwise have. The world also needs me to listen to them and help with bullying, with the effects of media and environmental or socio-economic influences, and navigating their way through woefully inadequate and/or underfunded/understaffed mental health or other social support systems, including the juvenile justice and foster care systems. I am not unusual. Many of the teachers I know did something else first. Rob, perhaps you should do a bit better research before you belittle an entire industry of dedicated professionals who sacrifice pay for fulfillment and purpose in life.As for teachers carrying guns? That is the day I quit, and it’s because of the world I see, not the one I didn’t function in.Mark WilsonCarson CityNRA is the tail wagging the dogUS population: 315 million. National Rifle Association membership: 4 million. I wonder, has there ever been a better example of “the tail wagging the dog?”John O’NeillMinden