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Firing of Oakland
chief was justified
The firing of Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong was justified by an investigator’s findings that he failed to properly supervise a probe of a police officer’s misconduct and his claim of lack of awareness about the details of the case lacked credibility.
When will we learn that anyone that is in a position of authority must be above reproach?
The fact that the Oakland Police Department is still under a federal monitor should have been of utmost importance, but this was not the case.
Maryann Sheridan
Walnut Creek
Toll lanes should be
put to the voters
While I totally agree with the letter written by Mr. Joe Strupeck on Feb. 12 (“Lower bridge tolls with infrastructure money,” Page A8) there is a worse problem than that happening, and that’s these toll roads popping up around the Bay Area.
Can someone please tell me who voted for this? Not me and not anyone reading this newspaper. I’m all for adding new lanes to relieve congestion but not at the expense of the people, especially since the lanes already have been paid for by taxpayers’ money.
These money-grabbing politics should be left up to the voters to be approved not just shoved down our throats. This needs to be brought to the voters so we can decide for ourselves whether or not we want toll lanes and roads, not decided by politicians in a smokey backroom. Until then, cease to collect all tolls.
Dave Gutierrez
Vallejo
No excuses justify
mass shooting
Well, it didn’t take long for the seven recent homicides in Half Moon Bay to be blamed on racism and the system.
In a letter to this paper on Feb. 17 (“Root out racism from worksites,” Page 6), Eric Fajardo blames the massacre on discrimination, low pay and “living in a shipping container.” I knew the excuses for this murderer’s actions would be plentiful, but it’s still shocking. While I also think the living conditions were horrible for these workers, I also know that thousands upon thousands of humans have overcome conditions similar and much worse than those of this killer and did not murder a bunch of innocent people. Many took steps to better their situations.
My condolences to the families that this killer devastated.
Robert Supriano
Castro Valley
Time has come to
regulate gun owners
Gun fanatics and the NRA say “it’s too soon” to talk about gun regulations after every mass shooting. So, doesn’t that mean it’s finally time to talk about Sandy Hook 10 years later? Of course it is.
The Second Amendment says “a well-regulated militia,” not an unregulated one. We regulate the gun owners, and every private gun owner in America is part of the unorganized militia and therefore subject to regulation.
Don’t buy their “inanimate object” deflection. It’s time we actually regulated gun owners.
Ed Chainey
Richmond
Second Amendment
assumed individual right
Those who believe there was no established right for individuals to own firearms until the 2006 Weller ruling by the Supreme Court are living in a fantasy world. Indeed, the Second Amendment presupposed an already well-recognized right of individuals to own guns for purposes of hunting and personal and family protection. Its purpose was to identify the right of individual gun owners to band together to form militias in order to protect themselves against those who would seek to conquer and rule them.
This is something that was necessary at our nation’s founding when we had no standing military. For it has always been the case that the first thing would-be dictators seek to do is to disarm those whom they seek to rule. This remains true to this day. So, the right of law-abiding adults to own arms for the protection of themselves and their families must remain sacrosanct.
Christopher Andrus
Dublin
Concealed carry had
no role in shootings
The proposed legislation to limit permits for concealed carry weapons is misguided and misinformed and looks like an attempt to “do something” to prevent gun violence. The proposal is not supported by any data.
The National Threat Assessment Center, a component of the U.S. Secret Service, provides research and guidance in support of the USSS protective mission and others with public safety responsibilities. They have conducted a number of studies of shooters: whether they were suffering mental illness, perceived injustice or grievance, etc. They recently presented case studies of mass shooters from 2016-2020. Not a single one was in possession of a CCW permit.
Our Legislature should concentrate on strategies that actually make a difference in preventing gun violence: mental health care, educating teachers, law enforcement and others to identify individuals who are on a path to targeted violence and take proactive measures to change their direction.
Michael Garduno
Danville
Source: www.mercurynews.com