With respect to diversity and inclusion, gun violence is an equal opportunity network, however, equity remains an outlier. Gun violence continues to be an outsized agent of death and long-term health trauma in Black communities. The response from the current administration has been to reduce federal oversight of gun businesses thus creating a partnership with the firearms industry.
In the words of Brandon Scott, Mayor of Baltimore MD, “the sanctity of children’s lives should outweigh the sanctity of guns.”
Newtown Action Alliance and many other gun violence prevention organizations, have worked tirelessly to educate the public as a first step to quell the violence. A big step forward happened under the previous administration when the White House Office of Gun Violence was established to provide scientific approaches to the study of the underpinnings of gun violence in order to develop research-based approaches and solutions to lessen the impact of living in a society with a proliferation of guns coupled with ineffective protections for the citizenry.
Year after year I attend the National Vigil for all Victims of Gun Violence. At the 2025 Vigil in December, Mia Tretta, a school shooting survivor of a mass shooting in California, returned to Brown University when the vigil ended. A few days later, she revisited her high school trauma when the university went into lockdown as a shooting was taking place on the campus.
How long will we continue to fail our children by not addressing the threats to the environment in which they live, work, and/or learn. How long will we continue to vote for legislators who either ignore the problem or support legislation that contributes to the problem.
How long will we, as citizens, feel resigned to let gun violence continue and/or buy weapons under the false premise that guns will keep us safe.
A New Year offers an opportunity for a new direction. Choose wisely.
Valerie Lee
Dayton
Rep. Turner not earning his paycheck
The recent Dayton Daily News article on Mike Turner failed to point out several items important to his constituents.
He does not hold town halls. He does not answer letters, email, or fax. The only mail you will receive from him is for fundraising. He has never explained why he was removed as the chair of the intelligence committee; or why he was removed from the committee altogether.
Being removed from a committee is generally for malfeasance. He only cares about WPAFB and to hell with fighting for the removable of grants to our food banks, schools and universities. He goes on TV and trembles at the question of what is the President doing to NATO or Ukraine. Mike needs to find a lobbyist job; he is not earning his pay as our congressman.
Jim Priest
Kettering