Sanctions punish the wrong people
The NCAA sanctions on Penn State football are typical of today’s chainsaw approach: Find a problem with a limb, chop down the tree. Never mind that the rest of the limbs were fine.
Obviously, something very wrong took place at Penn State. The guilty should be held accountable. But the innocent should not be penalized.
Joe Paterno was fired and embarrassed (and now he is dead). Jerry Sandusky is in prison. The president of the university was fired.
Consider that there might be 80 kids on the team each year, with another 20 assistants, trainers, etc., helping them. They were guilty of nothing. To say their wins over 14 years are erased is purely wrong.
A much better job of penalizing the guilty and protecting the innocent could have been undertaken.
ALLEN BUCKLEY, SMYRNA
Obama’s achievement greater than Romney’s
Mitt Romney was born into privilege and wants to be president. Barack Obama was born with no advantages and is the president. It seems to me that Mr. Obama is the more impressive man.
GERSON PAULL, ATLANTA
Create a database on gun, ammo purchases
In the days following the tragedy in Colorado, many Americans reacted in two ways (as reported in the AJC and elsewhere): There were more vocal calls for gun control and increased purchases of guns. While I am a proponent of gun control, I recognize that there are reasons that effective gun control may not take place.
What about creating a registry of weapons purchased, as well as purchases of ammunition and other dangerous items? It was reported that James Holmes purchased not only weapons and ammo online, but — among other things — a bulletproof vest and tactical gear.
There ought to be a way to flag worrisome combinations of purchases, or stockpiling. Perhaps a partial solution could be the creation of a national database (accessible to the FBI, the ATF, and other agencies), requiring the registration by vendors of these kinds of goods.
WENDY KALMAN, MARIETTA
Why protect the right to endanger public?
The NRA says we cannot stop the sale of guns.
Why do we continue to protect the right to obtain access to assault weapons, huge volumes of bullets and the implements that may help one person kill many strangers?
We glorify violence, and the innocent pay the price: John F. Kennedy; Ronald Reagan; James Brady; Gabrielle Giffords; and students at Columbine and Virginia Tech. And nothing has changed.
Shame on us.
KATHLEEN S. CHENEY, PEACHTREE CITY
