Americans are not so easy to push around

After reading the April 29 column by Dan Simpson ("Disarm America? Here's How") I cannot but wonder if this guy got the article from "Mein Kampf" or some other idiotic book.

First, you just don't send special squads of police to break into an American household, unless you want another revolution on your hands, and I don't think that would be a real bright move for today's politicians, most of them being draft dodgers and living off the fat of the land or off the taxes of the blue-collar worker.

I'm 65 years old and I would not recommend that anyone try and come into my home and just ask me to hand over all my weapons! That kind of nonsense could get your butt dog-bit or shot. This ain't England, bucco -- we just are not that polite.

And as far as the tragedy at Virginia Tech goes, if one of those students had been armed, old Seung-Hui Cho would have had more holes in him than a fishing net. So, Mr. Simpson, if you want an unarmed citizenry, move to the United Kingdom. Americans just aren't that easy to push around.

RON BARWELL
Finleyville

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Those who take guns

I read with interest Dan Simpson's column "Disarm America? Here's How." I expect that his plan would work, since that is pretty much how they do it in countries like Cuba, Iran and North Korea. All we have to do is turn the United States into a police state, and we will have no more worries about irresponsible gun use by citizens.

HENRY HALLER
Shadyside

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NRA promotes fear

Per classic NRA training, John Traynor ("An Individual Right," April 17 letters) cites only the last half of the Second Amendment.

The National Rifle Association was launched in 1871, four years before the Supreme Court, in Cruik- shank v. U.S., ruled, "The right of bearing arms for a lawful purpose is not a right granted by the Constitution ... ." It managed to continue collecting dues anyway by promoting the fabricated fear that, without those dues, all guns would be confiscated at sunrise.

In 1916, the National Defense Act formalized the National Guard as the "militia." And, the Supreme Court in 1939, in U.S. v. Miller, ruled that the Second Amendment does not grant the right to bear arms that do not have "some reasonable relationship to the preservation and efficiency of a well-regulated militia." Chief Justice Warren Burger once said that the NRA has perpetrated "a fraud on the American public."

One supposed benefit to a gun on every hip is the ability to take back government should it fall into evil hands. Where have those members been the last six years?

JOHN MACHADO
North Versailles

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Deaths no blessing

I was shocked to read letter writer Albert N. Crawford's comment "the killings at Kent State were a blessing in disguise" ("No Comparison," April 25) in reference to Rob Rogers' April 17 editorial cartoon. I wonder how the families of those slain feel about such a senseless comment.

I agree there was no comparison between events at Virginia Tech and Kent State: One was the act of a madman; May 4, 1970, is regarded as "the day the [Vietnam] war came home." The only commonality between the two is the massacre of students on a college campus.

It's well established that two of the students slain at Kent State were changing classes, not protesting, when they were killed. William Schroeder was a member of ROTC who had a textbook in his hand when he was shot.

Regarding "stones and bottles were thrown at the Guard troops by students," it is also established that the National Guard turned and fired on the students after the protesters had started to disperse. I don't condone violence, but the students protesting were throwing rocks, which were no match against loaded M-16s.

To laud the killings as a "blessing" and then to assume it prevented more deaths is not only insulting to the students' memory, but it also defies logic. Students across the country were protesting a war that is now regarded by almost everyone as senseless and ridiculous. The Kent State shootings made America look at the war in a way no other event could have.

As we approach the 37th anniversary of May 4, 1970, the deaths of the four students will serve to remind us of the parallels between an unpopular war at the time and the one we are fighting now.

GEOFF MACKEY
Mt. Lebanon

The writer is a 2004 graduate of Kent State University.

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Ask nonsmokers

From the May 1 article "Smoking Ban Fires Up Bar Owners, Patrons" it would appear that the common consensus is against the smoking ban. The problem is that the article talks solely to smoke-filled-bar owners and the people currently in said smoke-filled bars. The problem is that smoke-filled bars have a tendency to drive away those of us who support the ban. (I, for one, prefer to taste the food I purchase, rather than the ashes of other people, when I go to a restaurant).

Asking the people in a smoke-filled bar if they support the ban or not is about as useful as going to the White House and asking the staff if they support President Bush.

BEN SCHMIDT
Franklin Park

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Climate action

An April 12 letter called on Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., to sponsor legislation to regulate greenhouse gases ("Local Congressmen Need to Heed Global Warming"). Sen. Specter shares letter writer Dr. Bill Wood's concern regarding climate change and, to that end, is making serious efforts to craft meaningful federal legislation to deal with global warming.

The president of the World Resources Institute -- the same organization Dr. Wood cites in his letter -- recently testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and called for "targets that slow, stop and reverse the growth of U.S. emissions."

Sen. Specter is crafting a bill with Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., that would do just that. While still in the discussion stage, the bill seeks to implement a mandatory, economy-wide cap-and-trade program to control U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The draft bill provides a rational approach to global climate change by starting our nation on a market-based system, while attempting to limit its cost to U.S. consumers, encourage innovation through the development of clean technologies and recognize that the United States cannot solve this global issue alone.

Rather than insist upon passage of one particular piece of legislation, which Dr. Wood suggests, Sen. Specter is attempting to find a solution that can pass both houses of Congress and reach the president's desk with some hope for his signature. Otherwise, we will continue debating this issue for months and years to come.

SCOTT HOEFLICH
Press Secretary
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter
Washington, D.C.

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Gay parents can raise great kids, too

An April 27 letter decried the Post-Gazette for providing coverage of a gay marriage equality presentation given by Evan Wolfson here in Pittsburgh ("Let's See Stories Promoting Traditional Marriage"). The letter writer states "many studies have found the best way to raise children is in a traditional marriage with a committed mother and father."

Common stereotypes like this, however, are simply not supported by the data. While I applaud the writer's interest in forming public policy that is in the best interest of children, it should be pointed out that all -- not some, but all -- major research studies have found the opposite.

The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, to name a few, all favor the view based on well-documented research that the adjustment, development and psychological well-being of children is unrelated to parental sexual orientation and that the children of gay and lesbian parents are as likely as those from heterosexual parents to flourish.

Optimal development of children is based on stable attachments to committed and nurturing adults regardless of their sexual orientation. The evidence to date, as reported by the American Psychological Association, suggests that home environments provided by gay and lesbian parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children's growth and ability to thrive.

I applaud the Post-Gazette for balanced coverage of the community diversity in Pittsburgh and for presenting facts rather than hearsay on these families.

DANA ELMENDORF
Monroeville

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