SECOND AMENDMENT
Firearms on campus will help reduce crime
Erroneous perceptions about crime trends cloud how people feel about gun rights. Over the years, the Gallup Organization has found two-thirds of poll respondents believe crime is increasing annually.
In fact, the opposite is true. In Georgia from 2008 to 2012, violent crime has deceased by 22 percent. During that time, the General Assembly passed two major gun bills that significantly expanded the places where background-checked Georgians can carry their firearms.
While the violent crime rate is decreasing statewide, it is increasing where guns remain banned: our university campuses. Of the 11 universities that have consistently reported their crime data to the FBI, violent crime has increased by 36 percent from 2008 to 2012. The illusion of safety on Georgia’s campuses is harshly contradicted by the reality of the 38 forcible rapes, 46 aggravated assaults and 87 robberies that occurred on campus in 2012 alone.
Our experience here in Georgia proves that when good people are denied the right to defend themselves, violent crime increases. When more people carry more guns, in more places, more often, violent crime decreases for all of us.
MIKE MENKUS, Marietta
Many places where guns spell trouble
Guns in bars. I worry less about the mentally ill carrying guns than I do about armed drunk people. Guns on campuses. There may be a need for security, but guns would be better off in the hands of trained, licensed professionals than teenagers with access to drugs and alcohol without parental oversight.
Guns in or near government buildings. Courts hear cases where suspects are prosecuted and defended and where one side or the other is going to be angry or vengeful. Guns should not be in the hands of vigilantes with grudges. Also, there are some fringe people who blame “the government” for all of society’s ills. Guns in churches — really? Surely, there is no need if people in church are taught to love one another, not shoot one another.
Please, please stop the madness!
MARGARET HANSEN, Sandy Springs
TRANSPORTATION
Heavy rail expansion is the smart way to go
In light of the history of GRTA and the failed T-SPLOST, Joel Smith’s idea to have GDOT take over regional Atlanta transportation planning (“Let GDOT run the show,” Opinion, Jan. 7) makes a lot of sense.
However, in terms of next steps, Mr. Smith repeats the erroneous mantra that MARTA rail would be an ineffective and overly expensive solution to our major problems. The truth is that heavy rail extensions up Ga. 400, I-75 and I-85 are the best way to reduce rush-hour congestion in the populous “northern arc.” In fact, the majority of people in the Ga. 400 corridor now support a MARTA extension north; and in an extensive MARTA study comparing heavy and light rail and bus rapid transit, heavy rail was selected and is moving forward.
Hopefully, I-75 (with the worst rush-hour congestion in the metro area) and I-85 will eventually move in the same direction.
RANDY HOWARD, Alpharetta
