UNC parent: I’m angry and fed up. | Opinion

Fed up UNC mom

I am angry, fed up and past the point of being enraged about gun violence in this country. As a mother of a UNC-Chapel Hill student, I am horrified and overwhelmed by the Aug. 28 lockdown and death of a professor on campus. Having to relive the experience with another lockdown last week is more than a parent can take.

Bulletproof backpacks and armed guards at elementary schools, metal detectors at schools, and yet even with these safeguards we still have school shootings. It is disgraceful what our elected officials are doing to our youth. I blame every elected official who consciously chose this path. They’ve normalized gun violence.

The lesson we can learn from last week’s lockdown is that the gun was easily accessible and ended up in the hands of someone with a criminal background — period.

Our elected officials are the real problem. Let’s stop the insanity by voting them out.

Lauren Postyn, Raleigh

Moore’s comment

In response to N.C. Speaker Tim Moore’s questioning why the UNC campus is a “gun free zone,” I’d like to ask him if he prefers a Wild West or Dodge City atmosphere on a campus with 30,000 students. I understand his support of Second Amendment rights, but common sense must prevail.

For nine years I have been part of volunteer staff for UNC home football and basketball games. If Moore wants to have a wide open, gun possession campus, he should support an appropriation to supply all paid and volunteer staff with bulletproof vests.

Mark Rodin, Morrisville

Budget delay

The Republican-led N.C. House and Senate said they would be voting on and passing a state budget last week. Not! Their push for casinos is what’s stalling the budget. Here’s a thought: Why not take a gamble on N.C. citizens and pass the state budget so that Medicaid can be expanded? That would give N.C. citizens much needed health care, along with the raises and bonuses for teachers, state employees and retirees that were promised months ago.

Partha Howell, Beaufort

No to casinos

If our Republican leaders win their gamble and get the casinos, they will add to the state’s future woes with increased crime and gambling addictions. Having seen a gambling addiction destroy the family and personal life of a cousin, I encourage our leaders to oppose adding casinos to the budget bill. North Carolina needs more jobs that produce value, not jobs that diminish quality of life.

Vernie Davis, Cary

Sustainable?

Regarding “Net-zero-energy homes near Village District start at $1.9M,” (Sept. 10):

Do you really need 4,100 square feet of living space to exist on this planet? This article underscores everything that is wrong with our approach to climate change and affordable housing. I hope the person who owns the first house has a wife, four kids, two dogs, a cat, and a mother-in-law living in that space with him. Anything less is unconscionable. If we continue to look at 4,000-plus square feet of living space costing almost $2 million as “sustainable,” “affordable” and a “reduction of a carbon footprint,” then our society is doomed.

Brad Bradshaw, Raleigh

Sen. Tuberville

The writer is a retired N.C. Superior Court judge who wrote in response to a Sept. 28 event in Raleigh featuring U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville.

Senator Tommy Tuberville’s mammoth ego has put the U.S. military command structure and our national security at risk. Tuberville put a “hold” on all military promotions because he disagrees with the Defense Department policy that allows females in the armed forces to be reimbursed for out-of-state travel to receive medical care related to abortion.

He is causing hundreds of officers and their families to suffer in limbo. His behavior is foolhardy and dangerous. To quote Shakespeare’s MacBeth: Tuberville is but a fool who “struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. ...Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Tuberville never served a day in the military and clearly lacks the understanding and experience needed to justify his bizarre and wrongful decision. History may well deal harshly with his action, and should.

Howard Manning Jr. , Raleigh

JAG officer U.S. Navy, 1968-1972

This story was originally published September 17, 2023 at 5:30 AM with the headline "UNC parent: I’m angry and fed up. | Opinion."