Letters to the editor
The weird campaign
It was interesting to read state Sen. Camera Bartolotta’s analysis of the very weird battle for her seat in the primary. Millions of dollars were poured into this race, with not just local mailers but massive regional television advertising. Surely there were many who thought, “Who are these people?”
It was obvious that some out of state organization was bankrolling this campaign, but impossible to tell who it was or why. Those political action committees always hide behind some benign name such as “Americans for Prosperity,” which obscures their actual purpose.
Wouldn’t it be nice if campaign contributions and advertising could be restricted to individuals who actually reside in the contested district? Then the real issues would have a much better chance of being heard.
But the Supreme Court, in the “Citizens United” case, unleashed a torrent of lies, smears and distortions that has become a major cause of disenchantment with the government. Corporations and political action committees were given free speech rights, but they evade the accountability that should balance those rights.
And now, even small, local elections are overwhelmed by well-funded, out of state agents flooding the airwaves and mailboxes with vile, negative advertising. They care nothing about local people, and play “divide and conquer” games with us.
Yet, as Bartolotta noted, people are not nearly so divided as the noise makes it seem.
John Bogaard
Houston
Secure your firearms
As a born-and-raised western Pennsylvania native, I know there are some things we just don’t talk about, like which grandmother’s pierogi recipe reigns supreme or that time in ’97 you did move the parking chair (allegedly).
But we also don’t talk about firearm storage – and that silence can be deadly. We don’t talk about firearm storage, and it’s a fatal mistake.
I was horrified, for example, to see an armed officer had left his weapon in the restroom of my alma mater, Washington High School, just a few months ago. A student found it and thankfully took the correct steps to ensure everyone’s safety, but so many of these stories do not end that way. Nationally, 4.6 million children live in homes with loaded, unlocked guns, and about one-third of teens say they could access a firearm within minutes. This access often happens completely by accident or as the result of adult oversight from the very people who want to protect them.
As someone who has personally held the hands of parents who have lost a child to an unsecured firearm, hugged a sibling who now has an empty chair next to them at the dinner table, and consoled a child who misses their best friend – the time for being precious about firearm safety has long passed.
Summer is the season with half of the weeks in the year with the most unintentional shootings by children. The gun violence prevention non-profit, Brady, started ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Day on June 21, the first day of summer, to remind all guardians to ask a simple question: “Are there unlocked guns where children are at play?” We already ask so many questions before our kids leave the house — about allergies, medication, swimming pools, screen time, and more. Firearm security should be no different.
As the Culture and Public Health Partnership’s Manager at Brady, I know this all too well: safe storage dramatically reduces unintentional shootings and youth suicides. If we can deploy secure storage in just 20% more households with children, we could reduce youth firearm fatalities by up to 32%.
For some, ASKing could be the first step that encourages life-saving change, and I beg all readers to be brave enough to do so.
Jillian “JJ” Janflone
Washington