The NRA must face facts about guns and violence

Three sets of school killings in one week -- the latest one of little, innocent Amish school girls ("Gunman at Amish School Kills 5 Girls, Wounds 5," Oct. 3). How tragic. How sickening. How disturbing. But crying isn't enough. It is necessary to ask ourselves just how such terrible occurrences are to be prevented. There's only one way it seems: to remove deadly guns and ammunition from the hands of the insane, for surely men doing such despicable deeds must be insane.

Removing access to arms means a big change in the National Rifle Association's attitude. I understand how they feel about the right to bear arms, and this might well be a proper attitude if everyone who had or wanted such access were sane, but they're not. Some are crazy and do crazy things.

I do believe it is imperative for the NRA to stand up to its responsibility and state how we are to control and prevent such atrocities while abiding by its "right to bear arms" standard. And no platitudes, no "guns don't kill, people do" statements. Face it: people with guns do. It takes both to cause tragedies.

You of the NRA want the right to carry arms, so tell us -- how are we to end such stupid violence as we have seen in the past week unless we remove an overly free access to guns?

EDWIN J. BORREBACH
Bradford Woods

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No more carnage

Here we go again. Another law-abiding citizen with his guns kills five children, this time in a peaceful Amish community. And the gun people are complaining about the one-gun-a-month proposal? How many do we need?

How long can this carnage go on?

Someone has to find an answer, somehow, somewhere, and the answer is certainly not more guns.

WARREN E. SHEPPICK
Fallowfield

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Few need guns

I watched the news yesterday morning about the children killed and wounded in an Amish schoolhouse in Eastern Pennsylvania, and I cried. And then I said, "Enough!" It is time to call a halt to this madness.

Our Founding Fathers guaranteed us the right to bear arms. But they would be turning in their graves to see what has happened in the name of our constitutional rights. Their intention was to allow citizens to protect their homes and families from foreign invaders or hostile natives. They did not intend for schoolchildren to have access to guns, for gang members to be able to shoot each other over a girl or for a mentally ill person to be able to take a school full of children hostage.

Recent letters in this newspaper have expressed the opinion that if we allow the government to regulate gun sales, we will open the floodgates to all sorts of government regulation. I would like to see the writers say that to Emily Keyes' parents; to the wife of the principal in Cazenovia, Wis.; or to the Amish community.

The only way to prevent such tragedies is to control the sale and use of firearms. Very few people need to own guns. A few people who work in dangerous occupations need guns, and hunters should be allowed to own guns. But those guns should be kept in secure locations, such as gun clubs, when not being used for their specific purposes. I call upon our state and federal officials to take a serious look at gun control laws. Let us make a commitment to prevent any more young people from being killed through senseless violence.

SUSAN COHEN
Point Breeze

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Food quality focus

At Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank we are changing behavior and filling bellies, not out of "liberal guilt" ("Please Don't Feed the Humans," Sept. 17 Forum commentary by William Saletan) but from a commitment to the right to eat and a mission to prevent hunger.

Mr. Saletan's point, "We know better than to feed buttered popcorn to zoo animals, yet we send it to a food bank and call ourselves humanitarians," is on point. We are humanitarians, but we have been focusing more on the amount of food distributed while neglecting the type of food.

Food banks all over the nation are working hard to improve the nutrient quality of the food we distribute. In an inequitable food system, we are looking for food that better meets the needs of those we serve. We are moving away from the old model of food recovery and elimination of waste to a new one based on healthy food choices. We are working to educate donors and funders on how critical the quality of the food we supply is. We are asking that they partner with us to support the health of those who are most vulnerable among us.

Fall Foodshare is approaching and the generous people of our region have the opportunity to support us in providing healthier food by donating nutritious items at their neighborhood Giant Eagle, weekends, Oct. 21 to Nov. 5. For a list, visit our Web site, pittsburghfoodbank.org.

MARGARET WOODS
Director, Procurement and Marketing
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
Duquesne

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Why they hate us

In response to your Sept. 24 series of letters "The Pope and Islam":

In an article published in the British Guardian, former Catholic nun Karen Armstrong points to the dangers the pope created with his anti-Muslim comments. Many more Muslims will see the West as "incurably Islamophobic," she writes.

Former Israeli Knesset member Uri Avnery writes, "The story about [Muslims] 'spreading the faith by the sword' is an evil legend, one of the myths that grew up in Europe ..."

So why did the pope criticize Islam in Germany? Perhaps this pope is less interested in finding a road toward peace than jumping on President Bush's bandwagon of "Islamofascism" slogans and his so-called war on terrorism -- in reality a war to dominate the world's oil resources.

I can't help but imagine how under siege Muslims must feel. Wars are waged against them, resulting in an enormous loss of life and property, all in the hypocritical name of fighting for democracy and against terror, when in reality these wars are for oil, water and power.

As Mr. Avnery explains, "Not for the first time in history, a religious robe is spread to cover the nakedness of economic interests." My hope and prayer is that Americans will wake up to our own bloody history and take responsibility for the damage we've done to the Middle East. We need not ask, "Why do they hate us?" It's all too clear.

CATHERINE McGRORY
Regent Square

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No war with Iran

We must take all necessary steps to prevent a U.S. attack against Iran, an attack that appears to be on the short-term agenda of the Bush administration.

As we have learned from our experience in Iraq, war with the Middle East will not solve our problems with terrorism; rather, it will only exacerbate these problems. Moreover, an attack on Iran will not even compare with the war we are facing in Iraq (a war that has claimed almost as many U.S. soldiers as the number of citizens lost in the 9/11 attacks). Rather, an attack on Iran will be much worse, with more far-ranging consequences, including the possibility for a worldwide conflagration.

DANIEL KOVALIK
Highland Park

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Clearly, we need a major shift in our governance

How ironic to see the depths to which the so-called Republican "moral majority" and "family values" party has fallen. As if its failed foreign policy, astronomical deficits and wars on the environment and working people were not enough, now another Republican, Rep. Mark Foley of Florida, has resigned in disgrace ("Foley Resigns in Teen Page Scandal," Sept. 30).

This follows closely on the heels of Rep. "Duke" Cunningham of California pleading guilty to accepting more than $2.4 million in bribes; Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio pleading guilty to bribery and corruption charges; and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is up to his neck in the Jack Abramoff scandal, being indicted in Texas in a separate case and forced to resign.

Watching the Republican leadership tap dance around their prior knowledge and inaction on Rep. Foley's conduct is like watching Richard Gere singing, "give 'em the old razzle dazzle," in the movie "Chicago" (but not nearly as amusing). It's obviously time for a major shift in governance in the next election.

RON BERLIN
Edgewood

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