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When will leaders act
to slow gun violence?
Re: “Gunfire at party leaves 4 dead” (Page A1, Dec. 1).
Over what should have been a weekend of gratitude and family gatherings, our communities were confronted once again with devastating headlines of gun violence. The loss of innocent lives at a children’s birthday party near Stockton is a heartbreaking reminder of how fragile safety has become in this country. How many more lives must be cut short?
How much longer do children have to fear going to school or being out in their communities? Gun violence in the United States continues year after year, leaving behind families with grief, children carrying trauma into their classrooms and neighborhoods living in fear.
Addressing gun violence is not about taking away people’s rights; it is about protecting innocent lives. Our communities deserve to feel safe, and our leaders have a responsibility to respond with the urgency this crisis demands. Our communities are depending on it.
Mariana Becerra
San Jose
Building design should
accommodate safety
Re: “Car crashes through popular coffee shop” (Page B1, Nov. 29).
It is now critically obvious that there is a desperate need for a change in the building code in regards to vehicle crashes.
Too many accidents involving cars penetrating store and restaurant walls are occurring year after year. It doesn’t matter if the business is an office or a store; customer and employee safety is being compromised. 7-11 stores have gotten the message after years of recurring accidents, and now each store location has a wall of closely spaced safety bollards surrounding each building’s perimeter.
How many more people need to be injured or killed before the building code is updated to meet this critical threat? Any business with vehicle parking lots or street-facing perimeters must be protected, or this ongoing issue will continue.
Michael Alvarado
San Jose
Even dealers get
a shot at pardons
Re: “Trump plans to pardon ex-Honduran president for drug trafficking sentence” (Page A3, Nov. 29).
On the one hand, this is hard to fathom; on the other, we are talking about President Donald Trump.
Having supposed drug smugglers killed without habeas corpus, and then pardoning a U.S. court-convicted drug trafficking and weapons charges kingpin, who apparently had a fair trial, which has already failed one appeal, is way, way beyond the pale. Oh, it seems it is because he was “treated very harshly and unfair” (DJT). I wonder what you call being blown out of the water for essentially doing the same thing?
Here, there is no guessing that if you have the money, you can make up or buy your own rules. Or, perhaps if you have no money, but have the goods on someone, that might work too.
Terry Lechner
San Jose
Trump’s cruelty sits well
with nearly 40%
Re: “Trump proposes stop on migrants” (Page A1, Nov. 29).
I hope this MAGA thing is waning, because this is not the country that I want. I have worked hard and played by the rules. I have been proud that America has been a positive force in the world, and I have believed in our future.
But right now, I’m not very proud of my country. I don’t like where we are headed under the erratic leadership, if you call it that, of Donald Trump. Selling out Ukraine, ICE separating children from their parents and putting them in cages, and the blatant racism and sexism Trump exhibits daily make me sad. Our standing in the world is in jeopardy, as is our economy. The lawlessness, meanness and chaos that pervade everything from this administration are just depressing.
It troubles me that his approval rating remains at nearly 40%, that 40% of my fellow Americans think this is okay.
Dave Riggs
Aptos
Hegseth’s ‘draw fire’ quip
is a cause of concern
Re: “Gunfire wounds troops in D.C.” (Page A1, Nov. 27).
My heartfelt condolences to the families of the National Guard members who were shot recently. It is appalling that we continue to witness gun violence in most of the U.S. Better gun control laws will reduce these numbers; we all know that, but gun lobbies rule legislators.
What I wonder is why those guard members were there in the first place? When Pete Hegseth told generals to “draw fire,” is this what he meant? Did he and Donald Trump expect this outcome so they could further deploy guard members to our cities, perhaps to further distract from the Epstein case?
Sue Kensill
San Jose