The Enterprise opinion pages are an open forum for our community. We encourage readers to express their thoughts about issues that appear in this newspaper or affect the community. Letters should be brief (with an outside limit of 1,000 words) and must include the writer's address, name, and phone number for verification. The editor may reject letters that have been printed elsewhere. Letters concerning elections will be cut off one issue before the election at the editor's discretion. No unsigned letters will be published. The deadline for letters is Tuesday at noon.
To the Editor:
As I sit here on my deck in Knox on a spectacular Christmas Eve afternoon, my ears are pummeled with the sounds of rapid-fire gunshots off in the hills. It has been virtually non-stop since yesterday morning.
My suspicion is that these are newly acquired assault rifles purchased in the flurry of pre-Congressional action. Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association has already offered his lobbying organization’s position so we probably will not see any meaningful legislation to halt the sale of these people-killing machines.
Our Congresspersons are more concerned with re-election and the effect that taking a stand may have on their ability to solicit contributions from the powerful NRA.
If we need to place armed guards at every school in America, we need to take a very serious look at the direction that our civilization is heading.
Are we heading for a Wild West attitude in every phase of our lives? Does everyone need to carry a sidearm for protection? Is this really where we are headed? This is not the advance of mankind; this is the decline of the civilization.
Jay Baumstein
Berne