TNT letters to the editor, 4/1/2021

Gun safety

Re: “Congress should support funding necessary to conduct robust research into US gun violence,” (TNT, 3/28).

Cooperation was possible between Democrats and Republicans on gun control years ago (1996). Go back to1968 and one finds even the NRA supporting background checks, licensing provisions, interstate and foreign commerce regulations, and identifying “prohibited persons.”

Today the ideological battle lines are cast in concrete with logic and honesty as casualties.

This is unlikely to change unless the focus is changed from banning firearms to learning what causes some people to harm others, be it with a firearm, knife or panty hose.

The lessons of Prohibition provide a warning. It created black markets, violent gangs with great wealth, and turned responsible citizens into scofflaws.

Perhaps the answer can be found in the concept of Mothers against Drunk Driving. They make no moral judgment against alcohol, only demand responsible use when driving.

If the country could rally around the concept of zero tolerance for violence, many lives could be saved, not only from firearms.

Tim Tengesdal, Elk Plain

Street racing

Re: “Tacoma moves to crack down on street racing,” (TNT, 3/29).

Recently announced proposed penalties for street racing (up to 90 days of jail time and/or up to a $1,000 fine) don’t make me feel that the activity would be significantly reduced.

Why not mandatorily confiscate the vehicles involved, crush them and turn them into scrap metal?

If I were a street racer, I’d certainly think twice, maybe three times, whether the loss of my car was worth the thrill of street racing.

The argument that confiscation would adversely affect the family of the owner is baseless. A car outfitted for street racing is not the kind of car that mom uses to take the kids to soccer practice.

Kenneth Severe, Lakewood

Climate change

Opposition to government efforts that reduce greenhouse gas emissions begins this way: We must first consider the cost-benefit of (whatever) policy or action.

Opponents decry the cost of climate-mitigation strategies, saying they will saddle their grandchildren with tax debt. What’s more, they sob, low-income people will be impoverished due to rising gasoline and energy prices.

These are spurious arguments. The cost of doing nothing is already being felt by the middle and low-income classes.

Extreme weather conditions have caused us reduced health, increased hospital visits, disappearing jobs in fisheries, tourism and recreation, and damage to our homes and infrastructure.

To ensure that our grandchildren inherit a livable planet, we must support reserving wild areas for nature to heal, and we must support local, national and global policies that eliminate burning fossil fuels and other sources of mass pollution.

Good government, just as wise household budgeting, is marked by up-front investments to reap long-term rewards.

Lucinda Wingard, Gig Harbor

Voting rights

Part of Georgia’s new voting law would make it a misdemeanor to give food or water to people waiting in line to vote. A conservative speaker said it is a way to streamline voting and assure integrity.

It is bound to backfire. Imagine a conservative voter in that four-hour line; how would they feel by the time they get to the front?

Would they still support the conservative candidate after such deprivation? Would they expect a pass to get food or water? Will place holders be banned unless they show party credentials?

The whole thing is too vile to allow in America. This whole voter suppression effort is an extension of the Trump/criminal class conservatives’ historically expressed desire to have a lock on voting outcome and thereby create a conservative dictatorship.

Liberty is their mantra. What that means in the most base terms is slavery.

Dane Burt, Tacoma

This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 1:10 PM with the headline "TNT letters to the editor, 4/1/2021."