Boy Scouts learn safe firearm use
Where was the headline: “Gangs of teens armed with knives and guns gather nationwide?”
Surely there’s no way kids and guns mix without tragic results. We simply must do something to stop this from happening!
What’s that you say? The gangs of kids are troops of Boy Scouts?
Hundreds of them shot thousands of rounds from rifles and shotguns at our local summer camp and that scene was repeated in hundreds of camps nationwide. But you thought that guns only killed people. Do you mean to tell me that there were no mass shootings or accidents with thousands of kids shooting guns all summer?
While hundreds of local Scouts were being taught safe gun handling and honing their shooting skills, they were also being introduced to a skill and sport in which they can enjoy safely their whole lives – unlike say, football.
Remember that next time someone goes off about “gun violence.” Separate the gun from the violence. The gun is incapable of violence – it is entirely up to the user. Why do our legislators constantly tell us we have a gun problem and that the solution is more gun laws? Those who obey the laws, like these Scouts, aren’t the problem.
What is the difference between the teens who spent their summer trying to improve their score at the target range and those that misused firearms in the commission of crimes? Simply stated, the Scouts are taught better.
– JOSEPH C. LONGO, Agawam
‘Average’ casino pay deceptive figure
When it comes to workers’ wages, averages are meaningless.
MGM says that its average pay at the casino will be about $50,000/yr. If one well-paid executive is in the mix the average means nothing. What we need to know is what is the entry level salary for a full-time worker.
Some sources say it is about $14,500 which is well below the poverty line. Walmart claims its hourly average is $13.75/hour which is also useless information since we don’t know what positions are included in the average.
We do know that Walmart and casino workers are similar in that they must be subsidized with food stamps and Medicaid which means that taxpayers are providing what should be provided by the employer.
Of the 10 richest people in America, four of them are immediate members of the Walton family. Six members of the Walton family have more wealth than 30 percent of all Americans.
They could easily afford to pay a living wage and give benefits. How did inequality get so bad ? Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who supported Newt Gingrich in the GOP primaries acquired his wealth by taking it from others and giving nothing in return, otherwise known as gambling. How many people must lose everything to create one billionaire like Adelson and how does this accelerate the inequality that threatens society?
We need to know entry level salaries not averages. To Walmart and MGM, I say, please stop blowing smoke and tell us the truth. There is a reason why casinos have been traditionally illegal and they should have stayed that way.
– MALITA BROWN, Wilbraham
‘Birther’ believers don’t know facts
Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously stated: “You are entitled to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts.”
This could not be more the case than with the issue of President Obama’s citizenship, an issue that just doesn’t go away. Wherever in the world Barack Obama may have been born, it is irrefutable that he was born of an American mother.
The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 specifically states that the child born of an American citizen anywhere in the world, is an American citizen. Senator John McCain (who ran for President) was born in Panama – the son of American parents; Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was born in Canada – the son of an American mother.
No one is asking for their birth certificates. It is a sad commentary on our culture that, for many people, a person’s skin colors the facts.
– ED MAXWELL, Hadley