Art Lover
I enjoyed reading Chris Davis’ excellent story (“Shock of the Now,” January 31st issue) about the Dixon Gallery & Gardens’ new show featuring 80 Memphis artists. (Is Twin one or two?) I was very pleased to see so many of my friends and fellow artists get some well-deserved recognition. And I take some consolation from the fact that surely I was number 81.
John B. Ryan
Memphis
Guns ‘n’ Stuff
I have free yard signs stating “No Guns Allowed in This Home!” I would ask each of your “Letters to the Editor” respondents and your columnist Tim Sampson to please place this sign in front of their homes. Their naïveté is unbelievable!
You so quickly hop on the latest “ban something” bandwagon and reduce our personal freedoms. You swoon over the words of hypocritical politicians who have dozens of armed guards for themselves and their families but want to restrict our right to protect ourselves in our own homes. You ignore the common-sense proof that the cities with the most restrictive gun laws, such as Chicago, Washington, D.C., etc., have the highest murder rates in the country.
Why do criminals flock to these cities? Why do the nuts out there shooting up the schools and movie theaters pick these places to kill? Because they are cowards, and they know these are places where guns are not allowed. We know that you are slowly trying to chip away at our rights when you try to limit the size of a clip or restrict pistol grips or even when you punish a child who says “bang, bang” with their fingers in school. You may be fooled by this stupidity, but we are not.
Don’t forget the yard signs. Thugs and criminals everywhere look nonstop for those who are most vulnerable.
Rick Sneed
Memphis
I believe the Second Amendment means exactly what it says about “a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state.” Members of religious extremist groups are not part of a well-regulated militia. Neither are members
of the NRA. And just because Tea Partiers call themselves patriots does not mean they are part of a well-regulated militia.
The Second Amendment says nothing about an individual’s right to own guns. That’s just an invention of the NRA.
In truth, there is no rational argument for privately owned semi-automatic guns and assault rifles in this society. And the argument that “guns don’t kill people” is nonsense. Ask cops if guns kill people. A gun is literally the power to kill, and we’re seeing that more every day as 40,000 Americans are killed by guns each year.
Louis Anderson
Nashville, Tennessee
Enlightened?
I have always regarded Flyer readers as enlightened and compassionate people. I was shocked to read a recent letter to the editor (January 31st issue) advocating the harassment and eviction of an unfortunate, apparently homeless person living in a tent near Poplar and I-240. I am sure the person is not homeless by choice. Renting the penthouse at the Peabody is probably not an option.
Would it not be more productive to take them some warm clothing and a hot meal rather than forcing them to pack up their meager belongings and trudge through the cold weather to find another spot to camp?
Jim Brasfield
Memphis
Dagmar
Football and boxing are not really sports. Who cares if a piece of pigskin gets over a line or not? And who cares how fast one can scramble an opponent’s brain by bashing their heads repeatedly? These “sports” give participants the opportunity to legally bash, maim, and inflict pain on others. But more than that, they encourage people to watch those bashings, maimings, and pain inflictions.
I’ve often wondered why watching someone writhing in pain after a bashing brings joy to some people. And how is it that people are paid millions of dollars to do the pigskin thing, while lots of teachers make less than $40,000 a year?
Dagmar Bergan
Helena, Arkansas