Kids die from gunshots while lawmakers play partisan politics
The first two headlines from a recent afternoon email update from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution illustrate the sad state of our compassion for our children. The first headline was “Bill to limit healthcare for transgender kids heads to Kemp.” The second headline immediately following was “‘I just heard her scream’: Sister recalls horror when 11-year-old was shot in bed.”
Our elected officials, playing partisan politics and with little to no medical training, have decided they know what is medically best for a child, their doctor and their parents as they cope with a significant decision that has been made.
Meanwhile, gunfire external to a little girl’s home killed her as she slept in her bed. Just in this month, too many children have died from gunshots.
I say let the trained medical profession address the transgender issue and our elected officials put some real effort into understanding and addressing the horrific death toll in our children.
ROGER DEPUY, KENNESAW
Neither Trump nor Biden to blame for Ohio train derailment
More than two years into the Biden Administration, many still blame the prior administration for everything from the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment to recent bank failures. As for the derailment, the Federal Transportation Technical Center research and simulations into Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) brakes show that the East Palestine derailment could not have been prevented or significantly reduced by the use of ECP brakes. President Donald Trump voided the rule to require EPC brakes for no other reason than it did not have a positive cost-benefit ratio to society.
Our railroads are one of the safest and most regulated industries in the country. The East Palestine derailment was a one-in-a-million, multi-factor incident where several things came together to make for a terrible derailment, but the rail industry will learn from this event and calmly promulgate responses that will further reduce the chance of this type of derailment happening in the future.
Neither Trump nor Biden has any responsibility here.
GARY HENDERSON, MARIETTA
