Why does Texas lack qualified teachers? Maybe they don’t want to get shot to death
They deserve hazard pay
Tuesday’s front-page story “Many new teachers in state have no classroom experience” failed to mention one huge factor that surely contributes to the dire teacher shortage: Texas’ idiotic gun laws and the fear among would-be teachers of more Uvaldes.
If districts really want to attract qualified teaching candidates who are well prepared on Day One, they need to kick Gov. Greg Abbott and the other Republican leaders who bear responsibility for the Uvalde school massacre out of office and replace them with leaders who will prioritize human life over guns. Work to replace them ASAP.
- Greg McCarty, Buda
Booze? No. AR-15s? Go ahead!
The 18-year-old who went on the shooting rampage in Uvalde purchased two AR-15-type rifles. In Texas, the law says you have to be 21 to buy alcohol. How is it an 18-year-old could purchase a gun of any kind, much less an AR-15 and the abundance of ammunition he had? What school will be next in the gun-loving, good old USA?
- Carolyn Sawyer, Fort Worth
Prayer is the only solution
In the face of the tragedy in Uvalde, Democrats will attempt to pass new gun control legislation. But they will be skeptical they can get any law past a Republican-led filibuster in the Senate.
Gun restriction laws cannot bring us the peace and protection we desire. Only God can do that. I hope Republicans will attempt to pass a law making daily prayers legal in public venues. But they will be skeptical they can get any such law past a Democratic-led filibuster.
Before the banning of school-led prayers in 1962, we began our days in grade school with a prayer over the loudspeaker for God to guide and protect us through the day. Resuming our prayers to God alone will provide us the peace and protection we want. Prayer works.
- Father Scott Wilson, Denton
Ted Cruz is just a symptom
Watching Sen. Ted Cruz speak at the National Rifle Association convention and give his lame rationale that the only protection from a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun made me realize that we have a Congress full of these types. The problem is that the people with the guns always think they are the good ones.
For Cruz to rationalize and place blame on the Democrats in the horrible wake of Uvalde is a frightening realization that America is in serious danger from renegade conservatives whose only motive seems to be to “Make America Hate Again.”
- Gary B. Hicks, Forest Hill
We can blame only ourselves
Guns are not the main problem when it comes to mass shootings, just as liquor is not the main problem when it comes to drunken driving. It’s irresponsible human behavior in both cases. All the legislation in the world will not stop a person set on destruction.
The root of the problem is the foundation of society, the home, and the breakdown of family structure in which the values of human life are taught.
Don’t blame Republicans or Democrats, because neither can solve all our problems. Blame society and the drift from solid faith principles. It starts with you and me.
- Jim Hargrove, Fort Worth
One seems more important
When guns are easier to get than baby formula, what’s wrong with this picture?
- David Fusco, Arlington