Letters for August 2, 2018
Cinestroy
The new ‘developers’ at Park Lane Mall have essentially choked off most traffic to the cinema.
If I saw any concrete (?) development I would not object, but, hey, I love to bitch. C’mon guys, don’t kill our cinema, please?
Craig Bergland
Reno
Gun crime
The death of a man for the crime of parking in a handicap spot illustrates the fundamental problem with any stand-your-ground law. The killer could have dealt with the issue in a variety of ways, but he chose to escalate the conflict by aggressively assuming the role of law enforcement against a private citizen. Did his concealed-carry permit embolden him to become a vigilante? Reports indicate that he created this kind of situation before at that store over that same parking space, which indicates a vigilante attitude.
What I saw in this video was a person acting as an aggressor being subdued in a non-lethal way with the aggressor re-engaging and further escalating the situation he created himself with the pull of a trigger.
If this is the new face of justice in America, then something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.
Michel Rottmann
Virginia Highlands
Suggestion
Re “Packin’ heat” (cover story, June 21):
Kudos, Matt Bieker, for your refreshing, well-written, and unusually—for RN&R—open-minded essay.
May I suggest your next assignment be to attend one of the big gun shows in Reno, where you can mingle with browsers, buyers and sellers, and decide for yourself what really takes place there, and dig into this evil “loophole” that’s supposedly killing so many of our children. I look forward to your honest report.
Brian Adams
Reno
More bullet points
Re “Bullet points” (cover story, July 12):
“Guns and ammo": Maybe create a dedicated insurance fund to pay the medical and/or funeral costs for victims of gun violence. Collect a 10 percent excise tax on retail sales of all types of ammo. Collect 10 percent excise tax on retail sales of semi-automatic weapons, too. Could we afford just 10 percent compassion for our own victims, like the Las Vegas country music fans? God, sure I hope that wouldn’t be too much to ask.
Jim Romaggi
Sparks
Re “Bullet points” (cover story, July 12):
I found the suggestions to curb gun violence interesting and, in a few cases, actually agree, although very few cases.
“Copy the Aussies": There is no way in hell that the people in the United States who own guns are going to give them up of their own free will.
“Background checks and tracking ammo": California, New York, and New Jersey. Just another way that the antis—or as gun rights advocates refer to them, “Goldilocks"—are attempting to subvert our second amendment rights.
“Raise the age": Right on; absurd.
“Surrender their weapons": refer to my comments under Aussies.
“Require a police interview": Refer to my comment after background checks and tracking ammo.
I do somewhat agree with “Mandatory gun-safety classes,” provided they are not extremely costly for the average citizen.
In summary: Since mankind crawled from the dark caves they (we) have been slaying others of their (our) kind either in defense of their property, their kills in the field which fed them, themselves and family members/tribes, or in defense of their hunting grounds. The greatest difference between then and now is the instruments used for these purposes have evolved from the club to the gun.
I am an 80-year-old man and own both.
Dan Archuleta
Sparks