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Letters are posted as we receive them during the week, and before they are printed in the paper, so check back frequently to see new letters. If you'd like to send a letter to the editor, use this postmarks submission form, or email your letter directly to mail@austinchronicle.com. Thanks for your patience.
Flip the Crowd
RECEIVED Sat., June 7, 2014
Dear Editor,
Regarding “Point Austin: We'll Always Have ... Mass Murder” [News, June 6]: An interesting response to the open carry groups would be to mirror them but flip what seems to be a common characteristic of these groups. In other words, have large groups of black people openly carry around AK-47s and AR-15s in the small towns where many of the open carry people live.
I suspect that many of the open carry people might gain the ability to understand why people feel threatened when armed groups of “those people” are walking around the Dairy Queens and Burger Kings in their own neighborhoods.
Regarding “Point Austin: We'll Always Have ... Mass Murder” [News, June 6]: An interesting response to the open carry groups would be to mirror them but flip what seems to be a common characteristic of these groups. In other words, have large groups of black people openly carry around AK-47s and AR-15s in the small towns where many of the open carry people live.
I suspect that many of the open carry people might gain the ability to understand why people feel threatened when armed groups of “those people” are walking around the Dairy Queens and Burger Kings in their own neighborhoods.
David Horton
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Change Behavior
RECEIVED Fri., June 6, 2014
Dear Editor,
Thank you, Amy Smith, for the interview with Piper Kerman, bestselling author of Orange Is the New Black, who spoke about prison reform in support of the Council on At-Risk Youth (CARY). The Austin Chronicle has been really great following up on Piper's vision, along with CARY, of helping youth change aggressive behavior now when they are young, rather than continuing to go down the “pipeline” to prison. I also want to thank you for last week's article by Dagny Zenovia on community-based programs like PeaceRox to help kids change directions [“Changing Directions,” June 6]. This was a great, comprehensive article and (should be) award-winning journalism.
Thank you, Amy Smith, for the interview with Piper Kerman, bestselling author of Orange Is the New Black, who spoke about prison reform in support of the Council on At-Risk Youth (CARY). The Austin Chronicle has been really great following up on Piper's vision, along with CARY, of helping youth change aggressive behavior now when they are young, rather than continuing to go down the “pipeline” to prison. I also want to thank you for last week's article by Dagny Zenovia on community-based programs like PeaceRox to help kids change directions [“Changing Directions,” June 6]. This was a great, comprehensive article and (should be) award-winning journalism.
Heidi Gibbons
Bring Some Common Sense to Gun Discussion
RECEIVED Thu., June 5, 2014
Dear Editor,
I may never agree with Michael King's idea of what constitutes common sense gun control [“Point Austin: We'll Always Have … Mass Murder,” News, June 6], but I have to say Texas open carry advocates who are carrying semi-auto carbines on a sling in a front-ready position are doing more harm than good for their cause. I agree that there should be legal open carry of defensive pistols in Texas. Mainly in case a concealed carry holder's pistol should inadvertently be seen by someone, it wouldn't be a crime. Colorado and New Mexico have open carry of pistols and it doesn't seem to be a big deal there. I think if someone is responsible and law abiding, they should be able to own an AR or an AK. I just don't know if you'll ever make people desensitized to people walking around holding them.
Mass murder, whether it's the three people [Elliot Rodger] stabbed before the three people he shot, is terrible. But there is a certain amount of risk that comes with living in a free society. It's hard to remember that murders that occur where one guy kills more than two people only account for about 3 or 4% of all murders. That overall violent crime and the murder rate has dropped by about 50% over the last 20 years. Mass murders make for a good news story and they are tragic to those involved, but California has in place all the gun control laws that the U.S. failed to pass last year, and it didn't stop this guy from doing what he did. So how would more gun control laws have stopped it?
I may never agree with Michael King's idea of what constitutes common sense gun control [“Point Austin: We'll Always Have … Mass Murder,” News, June 6], but I have to say Texas open carry advocates who are carrying semi-auto carbines on a sling in a front-ready position are doing more harm than good for their cause. I agree that there should be legal open carry of defensive pistols in Texas. Mainly in case a concealed carry holder's pistol should inadvertently be seen by someone, it wouldn't be a crime. Colorado and New Mexico have open carry of pistols and it doesn't seem to be a big deal there. I think if someone is responsible and law abiding, they should be able to own an AR or an AK. I just don't know if you'll ever make people desensitized to people walking around holding them.
Mass murder, whether it's the three people [Elliot Rodger] stabbed before the three people he shot, is terrible. But there is a certain amount of risk that comes with living in a free society. It's hard to remember that murders that occur where one guy kills more than two people only account for about 3 or 4% of all murders. That overall violent crime and the murder rate has dropped by about 50% over the last 20 years. Mass murders make for a good news story and they are tragic to those involved, but California has in place all the gun control laws that the U.S. failed to pass last year, and it didn't stop this guy from doing what he did. So how would more gun control laws have stopped it?
Matthew Gonzalez
