Readers react to Parkland shooting and its aftermath

Ed secretary should keep schools safer

With 18 school shootings in just two and a half months, it's time to call out Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for failing to keep our schools safe. Joining with Democrats to call for congressional hearings is not enough. Why has she not taken proactive steps to make schools safer? Would metal detectors at entrances not be a quicker, more practical deterrent to guns in schools than waiting for Congress to once again do nothing?

Why are all new schools built with windows that do not open, trapping would-be victims — children — inside classrooms with no way out? Why do second-floor classrooms in older buildings that have windows that do open not have rope ladders? These are obvious steps that the secretary of education can take to at least give students a fighting chance. Maybe she could get her pal the president to reallocate $30 million from his military parade to foot the bill.

Kelly White, Watauga

Will we ever ban assault rifles?

Ban assault rifles. If this had been done in the past we would not have had the recent carnage in our country. In addition some of the shooters may have been mentally ill, but we forget that some shooters are evil. Evil may be lurking on the street or in the White House or Congress and in the NRA. Will we have the courage to stop it?

Ray Hogue, N. Richland Hills

Granger has 'A' rating from NRA

It's important to remember that not only does Congresswoman Kay Granger have an “A” rating from the NRA, but she also has received $16,450 in donations from the group. One of her very first votes when she hit Congress was to lift the ban on the sale of semi-automatic weapons.

Our congresswoman was determined to rise high in the Republican House leadership, and she soon became one of Tom DeLay’s handmaidens as a House whip. This perfectly positioned her to be one of President Bush’s prime cheerleaders for the Iraq invasion and war, one of the worst mistakes in U.S. history. Nevertheless she remained a stalwart supporter of that war through its long, sad history.

Being a strong supporter of hers when she was our mayor, her performance in Congress has been most disappointing. She has lots of blood on her hands.

Bronson C. Davis, Fort Worth

Better have a background check

So sick of extremist Tea Party politicians screwing up our great state. (Bud Kennedy column)

If you are going to carry a weapon in public around my family, I expect you to have a background check. A psychological screening would be even better. And Austin needs to increase its share of paying for education at every level. Local property taxes, college tuition and teacher health insurance costs are ridiculous because of radical conservative politicians in Austin.

Fred Gregory, Arlington

Shootings: Will U.S. ever learn?

It is often most effective to resolve complex problems by learning from others. Young people in the United States are many times more likely to be victims of gun violence than those in any other wealthy developed country. There have been too many mass shootings. It is time to learn from what works. More guns will only make things worse.

Karen Myers, Fort Worth

It's too easy to get guns

In August 2016, my 24-year-old nephew, a caring and lovable young man, put a gun to his head and took his life. He had a receipt for a handgun he purchased from a private dealer.

Josh had been treated for mental health problems since age 10 until his death, in and out of institutions more times than I can count.

According to the investigating officer, private dealers don’t do background checks. I thank God every day that he did not take the lives of others when his world went into total blackout. The system did not fail him. Easy access to guns did!

Barbara Suber, Fort Worth

Lubys killings didn't stop carnage

After the mass shooting at the Luby's in Killeen in 1991, my father said something would finally be done about gun control and to keep Americans safe. He couldn't have been more wrong.

Our Founders who crafted the Second Amendment could have never foreseen that ordinary citizens would own the type of weapons that they do today, which are capable of mass murder in a matter of minutes or seconds.

Further, it is clear that the right to keep and bear arms was meant in the context of a militia. I work in hospital emergency rooms and sadly there are far too many chronically mentally ill people in our society than we can help now and many of them will always struggle with their symptoms.

There is not a mental health solution to this problem.

Cheryl Oliver, Flower Mound

We must protect young lives

The White House, Congress and Supreme Court must decide whether it is more important to protect the lives of our children than to protect the objective of the NRA to arm all Americans.

Gary Hill, Fort Worth

This story was originally published February 23, 2018 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Readers react to Parkland shooting and its aftermath."