Observer Forum: Letters to the editor 10.21.15

Safety zones a waste of taxpayer money

I can define what a “public safety zone” is: Any location that is beyond the jurisdiction of the Charlotte City Council, thereby making it immune to their ill-conceived ideas for wasting more taxpayer money.

Is there anyone on City Council with even an ounce of common sense?

Please, not another campus clock tower

Chancellor Phil Dubois wants to tear down the only unique thing on the UNC Charlotte campus.

He says $1 million is too much to fix it, but we all know its replacement will likely cost more and be like 500 other clock towers found on campuses nationwide.

The Belk Tower might not be pretty, but it is unique, and it’s ours!

Do the right thing Chancellor Dubois – fix the Belk Tower!

Victim of Charlotte’s tear-down culture

The Belk Tower has long been a central meeting point on campus, whether for relaxation, debate or protest.

I have fond memories of gathering friends to surreptitiously illuminate the tower in green prior to men’s basketball games as a display of school pride.

While the aesthetics of the tower may elicit comparisons to bad Soviet Era architecture, it is one of the few truly iconic symbols on campus.

Removing it would be shortsighted and emblematic of the “tear-down culture” that pervades Charlotte.

Burr gets it right on conservation fund

The writer is CEO of the N.C. Wildlife Federation.

I applaud Sen. Richard Burr’s efforts on behalf of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a 50-year symbol of nonpartisan conservation legislation that Congress just let expire due to political shenanigans.

Burr is seeking all available avenues, even combating some in his own party, to restore and save the fund in the name of good, commonsense policy for North Carolina and the country.

I’m no Trump fan, but he’s right this time

Donald Trump is right.

There was information given to the CIA and to government security agencies that there would be an attack to the United States from foreign soil, which obviously was not taken so seriously nor investigated to the deepest core by the Bush administration.

I am not a Trump supporter, but the truth is the truth.

Don’t limit type of guns I can buy

Better background checks are a start. But I feel people are overlooking the assault rifle ban.

If you qualify for a gun permit, the government has no right to dictate what firearms you own.

Why should they, we are the good guys right?

Gun free zones should be outlawed; they only benefit the perpetrator.

We fought so hard for civil liberties, people really need to look at the bottom line and not be so willing to become sheep.

Great idea; tax gun owners to pay for it

Forum writer Harvey Cohen’s suggestion that delivery of a gun when sold, take place only at a local police station after the buyer is vetted is as good as any I’ve seen on this issue of gun control.

Yes, this would entail some additional cost but that could easily be covered by adding a small special tax at the point of any gun sale.

NRA may wither, but gun owners won’t

Professor Adam Winkler may be overlooking some developments from his ivory tower perch.

Gun purchases have exploded in the last seven years, at least four new shooting ranges have opened in Charlotte, and my local gun club has a membership in the thousands and growing still.

Whether the NRA withers matters not; individuals exercising their rights always trump D.C. lobbyists in the end.

This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 5:32 PM with the headline "Observer Forum: Letters to the editor 10.21.15."