Letters to the editor for Sunday, March 18, 2018

Columnist deserves an apology

Mr. Dunn seems to take a lead from DNC playbook to attack the messenger (Mr. LaSor). When Democrats accuse someone of misdeeds, they are usually much more involved in it themselves, an example being Trump-Russia collusion 24/7 for the past year in the media. As it turns out, Hillary Clinton and the DNC were involved, paying $12 million for the faulty Fusion Steele Dossier put together by Clinton aides, Russians and Steele (a former British spy), which was used by the Obama Justice Department and the FBI to obtain FISA warrants to spy on Trump associates without disclosing this to FISA court.

Also, the Uranium One deal where 20 percent of U.S. uranium was passed on to Russian interests and the Clinton Foundation received $145 million in contributions from the principals in the deal.

Dunn claims Fox News is unreliable. That can be disputed by the Harvard study made during the first 100 days of the Trump administration showing the bias of the news — CNN and NBC reported 93 percent negatively for Trump; the rest of the media was 80 percent negative. Fox was 50/50.

Former FBI director Comey is guilty of passing his notes (classified information) from the meeting with the president to the New York Times, along with exonerating Clinton months before interviewing her. Nice try to blame the Bush administration for Fast & Furious, when Attorney General Holder was held in contempt of Congress on the matter, and who also neglected to investigate the IRS abuses targeting conservatives.

Mr. LaSor deserves an apology for your pretending to be a fact checker for Snopes.

Otto Mark Tarvainen

Gardnerville

National Walk Out Day an important lesson in civics

On March 14, student all across the country walked out of class for 17 minutes to remember the 17 lives lost in Parkland. I knew Carson High was going to enforce a closed campus during this time, but I was compelled to show my support in some way. I grabbed a camera and rode my bike up to the school. I thought I had found a spot a comfortable distance away from the football field along the drainage ditch where I could witness the walkout. Maybe I would get a glimpse of my grandson.

Several sheriff’s deputies passed me on the dirt road. We waved at each other and smiled, but they weren’t going to let me stay.

On the way out, I met this group of folks who had also been turned away. I felt akin to them as they were mostly gray on top like me. Grandparents concerned about the world we are leaving our grandkids.

Kudos to the Carson City School District for respecting the students’ right to be heard. What a great civics lesson.

Thanks to the deputies who chased me off and patrolled the perimeter of the school to keep it safe.

Pat Griffith

Carson City

Issues gun control supporters need to review

I am not a member of the NRA but I do have some concerns about an age limit on the purchasing (ownership and operation) of long guns (rifles and shotguns).

Many individuals, probably more than a million, under the age of 21 own and use long guns for hunting game and the killing of varmints. They help in controlling herd size and varmint population.

The fees they pay to do this help to fund fish and game departments. If an age limit is imposed, what will be the status of the guns currently owned by those under the age limit? What might be the cost of recovering them? Will the current owners be paid for the guns and ammo? How would recovery be accomplished?

If an age limit is imposed regarding ownership and usage, special consideration would have to be given to those underage individuals seeking careers in the military and law enforcement. If a draft system was to be imposed, could individuals under the age limit use the age limit as a legal deferment?

I also have concerns about arming qualified school personnel with guns.

While I feel it might act as a deterrent, I question the effectiveness of a handgun against a long gun.

It is easy to talk about implementing gun controls, but there are many factors that need to be considered in establishing the rules and regulations.

Another bite of information provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and needs to be considered is, there are more than 15 million individuals holding one or more hunting licenses in the United States and they generate more than $850 million dollars annually in fees. More than $10 million dollars annually for most states.

Sanford E. Deyo

Minden

Put humanity before greed to solve urban blight

Dear Governor Brian Sandoval, Senators Catherine Cortez-Masto and Dean Heller and Mayor Bob Crowell:

As the capital city of Nevada, can we please be a trendsetter and reverse our city’s urban blight for the good of our town? For example, the many vacant houses on the southwest corner of Fifth and Roop streets. Why can’t we use them as temporary housing for our ever increasing homeless population? I know several veterans who don’t have the money nor transportation to travel 30 miles to the veterans’ hospital in Reno to get the care they deserve when they’re sick.

Why can’t we turn the Ormsby House into Carson City’s first veterans’ hospital? It is desperately needed.

With so many vacant houses and buildings left rotting for decades in this town, if they can’t be sold, why not use them for the good of our people? Can we please put humanity before greed? Let’s do it and be an example to other cities.

Robin Christy

Carson City

Trump is exactly what America needs

It never fails to amaze me as to the ability of our president to get so much of his agenda accomplished in just more than four months, and much of it in spite of mass media bias, hated rhetoric from Congress, rabbit trails looking for ways to get rid of him, etc.

What makes it so endearing is that he stays on course and is relentless in his pursuit of accomplishing what he said he was going to do. He is “making America great again” and exposing the naysayers and obstructionists along the way.

I say it is about time that somebody had the guts to stand up to that crowd and to double-down when they fire back. Sure he is unpolished and crass at times, but he is not a politician, he is a citizen who refuses to take it anymore and that is what this country has needed for a long, long time.

May God continue to bless America!

Kelly Madigan

Carson City