Kemp’s failure to reduce gun violence stains record
Now that Brian Kemp is in his final term as governor of Georgia, media speculation is growing about his potential candidacy for federal office. Gov. Kemp has earned respect for refusing to support Trump’s false claims of Georgia election fraud and for Georgia’s economic progress under his administration.
However, Kemp’s political Achilles heel is his abysmal failure to reduce gun violence in our state. Kemp even proudly touted his “constitutional carry” law, bypassing licensing for concealed carry and further proliferating guns in Georgia.
Georgia has a sad record of continued carnage due to gun violence. Each month, in one of our North Decatur Presbyterian Church worship services, we mourn those who died by gun violence the previous month. We mourned 61 June victims, a number which doesn’t include many firearm suicide victims, often not publicly reported.
How can a governor who is unable or unwilling to protect the health and safety of his state’s citizens be considered a potential candidate for higher office?
ARNOLD C. MCQUAIDE, JR., BERKELEY LAKE
Progressives aren’t the only political ‘snowflakes’
Conservatives like to throw the “snowflake” term around for progressives. They claim progressives are overly sensitive about issues that conservatives say should be confronted with manly fortitude. Issues such as equally applied justice, equity in salary for equal work, children in poverty, voting rights for all citizens, assistance for those fighting oppression worldwide, a belief that “all lives matter” and gun rights can’t co-exist and an awareness of our responsibility for the environment.
If believing those issues matter, then I’m a proud snowflake.
On the other hand, conservatives are fearful of someone quietly kneeling in protest, gay couples who want a wedding cake, people who remind them of their ancestors’ lack of morality, a trans kid, a person of color wanting to vote, words in a book and someone asking them to wear a mask to protect lives.
Conservatives, and their leader, constantly complain that everyone is out to get them. So, who really are the snowflakes around here? I think we know.
MICHAEL BUCHANAN, ALPHARETTA
