Letters to the Editor
In a House Judiciary Committee hearing after the massacre of 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy argued that 18-year-olds should be able to purchase and carry assault rifles, the type of weapon the 18-year-old shooter had just used on children. Why? Because, he said, the weapons might be needed to use against the government in case, for example, …. there were attempts to lock us in apartment buildings like they do in China to stamp out COVID.
“He’s talking about turning guns on American troops,” the chairman of the Judiciary Committee said.
Roy went on to make other bizarre statements. For example: Gun control enacted in the Soviet Union in 1929, resulted in 20 million people (without guns) being massacred. In Turkey, gun control is responsible for the death of 1 ½ million unarmed Armenians. And, Roy stated, “... we know what gun control in Nazi Germany meant for Jews.” The renown holocaust historian Alan Steinweis called such an argument “false, silly and insulting. (Austin American Statesman, June 8, 2022)
With Roy, there’s a lot that’s silly and insulting. He’s one of the few to vote against congressional gold medals for police officers who defended and were injured in the capital on January 6. And he voted against a bill to help mothers on federal assistance have access to more baby formula. Texas mothers were hit particularly hard, with 52% of baby formula out of stock. (Texas Tribune, May 19, 2022)
These are a few examples of Chip Roy’s unhinged thinking and callous disregard for the people of San Marcos and everyone in U.S. Congressional District 21. Obviously, Roy is not a deep thinker or reliable representative except, perhaps, when it comes to his bank account. The NRA has contributed $11,673 to him. It’s time to have a U.S. Congressional Representative we can trust and believe in.
Jerry Whitus
San Marcos
Editor: I want to commend
I want to commend the San Marcos Police Department for their response to the threat made against day care operations. I am pastor at First Lutheran Church and work closely with our Kids Of The Kingdom child care center. Although the threat was not in our city, no one knew that at the time, so our police took the lead in securing every operation potentially at risk and warning others in other states. They helped us make impromptu plans for responding if someone did come on site with evil intent. We shifted operations to be as safe as possible and they were in constant communication with us. Officer(s) on site constantly until the threat was identified and the individual taken into custody.
Preschools have not generally been the target of these threats and we realized how terribly unprepared we are. I’ve spoken with officers since then, and they will be working with all centers who desire so that in the future we are better prepared for threats large or small. Many thanks to them for the somewhat impromptu work that made a very difficult day easier.
As a culture, we have got to do something about gun violence and basically unquestioned access to weapons that can kill dozens of people and devastate hundreds of lives in minutes. But until we adults get our act together on that, it is good to know that our police are doing everything they can to protect the kids that our culture has not.
Rev. Tim Bauerkemper Pastor, First Lutheran Church and Kids Of The Kingdom CDC
