I want to see Bishop and McCready both call for a ban on the sale of assault weapons
Bishop, McCready should call for ban
In “9th District candidates differ on mass shootings” (Aug. 7), Republican candidate Dan Bishop is quoted as saying “...it’s not the guns that caused it.”
That is utter insanity. It is the availability of assault-style weapons that completed the job of causation. If those weapons were not available to anyone who wants them, the crazies could not engage in mass shootings.
Both Bishop and Democrat Dan McCready should be calling for a ban on the sale of assault weapons.
Dr. Lane N. Tracy, Cary
Put focus on gun registration
Let’s face it, background checks and red flag laws are simply feel-good measures people can point to and say they’re doing something about gun violence.
Background checks do nothing to vet the over 90 million existing gun owners, and red flag laws are toothless without mandatory gun registration that lets authorities know which guns a person possesses or has access to.
Without registration, any other measure is mere window dressing.
Fear of the government confiscating all arms sounds like paranoia, a feature of several mental illnesses.
Thomas Strini, Mint Hill
A flawed approach on violence
It is a flawed approach when one focuses on the instrument selected by a deranged individual to kill innocent people rather than on what may have caused the person to murder.
Unless you identify those root causes and develop ways to address them, evil will just choose a different instrument or method to kill that may be even more deadly.
Social media, which sometimes contains hateful rhetoric, may be pushing some people into isolationism, extreme frustration, or even violence.
Perhaps having a specialized element of law enforcement to monitor it, looking for those touting or threatening violence, may help.
Edwin Saint Sing, Mooresville
Dems use the same fiery rhetoric
At the same time that President Trump was visiting with victims’ families in Dayton and El Paso, leading Democrats were denouncing him using the same inflammatory rhetoric they accuse him of using. Enough already. This needs to stop — on both sides.
As much as the next person, I’d love for Trump to tone down his tweets and his speeches at rallies. That said, when the representative of the Office of the President pays a compassionate visit to grieving families, it needs to be acknowledged, or at least not denigrated.
Timothy Eichenbrenner, Charlotte
GOP today is unrecognizable
Regarding “Can a Republican win again in Charlotte” (Aug. 6 Opinion):
With all due respect, Kenny Smith is out of touch with the voter, as is the Republican Party.
I was an unaffiliated voter who used to vote for the person, not the party.
If Republican Party leaders, and politicians like Smith and N.C. senators, continue to not speak up against vitriolic and divisive language coming from what should be the most-respected office in the U.S., we will continue to see a decline in the party being represented in local politics.
The Republican Party is unrecognizable.
Laura Meier, Charlotte
Obama, Biden didn’t deliver results
President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden could not do in eight years what President Trump has done in two years.
Obama raised taxes, put on business-killing regulations, did not focus enough on jobs and improving the economy.
He seemed to ignore unfair trade with China, and did not improve problems with North Korea and Iran.
Obama was a great speech-maker and figurehead-politically-correct president who did not deliver results, perhaps because he just did not know how.
Trump knows how and is delivering.
Howard Honeycutt, Charlotte
Here’s my win-win on Panthers’ stadium
If David Tepper wants to build a new stadium with taxpayer assistance, I suggest he look to South Carolina.
South Carolina would welcome him with open arms and tons of state-provided funds and tax breaks.
Should Charlotte and North Carolina capitulate, it should require a 25 percent equity position in the team, as well as 25 percent of annual profits to be used for affordable housing.
Win-win!
Ed Carlson, Charlotte