For the love of those gathered at the feast

22 Smoky Mountain News

Opinion For the love of those gathered at the feast

My wife and I were truly blessed to have our children, some relatives and close friends gathered for Thanksgiving, which has always been my favorite holiday. So many of the people I love, all together around the table and nothing on the agenda except to re-tell stories from the past, muse about the future, revel in each other’s company and eat until we couldn’t. The world’s problems seemed to melt away.

Unfortunately, those problems were still there, including the deadly plague of mass shootings that has become an inherently American problem. As I tended the grill prior to dinner and scrolled through the news sites, the mass shootings from — let’s see, was it Chesapeake, Va. (7 dead, 6 wounded on Nov. 22); Hennessey, Okla. (4 dead, 1 injured on Nov. 20); or Colorado Springs, Colo. (5 dead, 17 injured on Nov. 19) — were all over the news.

With so many of my loved ones gathered, I couldn’t help but ponder the senseless loss of life that too many in this country have come to accept as the cost of living in a free country. I just don’t agree that we can’t stop some of these shootings.

From the time I was 10 until I left home at 18, Thanksgiving was about guns. Not guns specifically, but instead our tradition of visiting relatives in the Rockingham, N.C., and Cheraw, S.C., area where the entire trip revolved around hunting trips. I remember getting lessons on proper safety measures, and my uncles and cousins took it very seriously.

So serious that a mistake I made way back then as a 12- or 13-year-old is riveted in my memory to this day. We jumped a covey of quail one morning, and in the nervous rush of an inexperienced hunter I raised my .410 shotgun and fired. But the birds had risen only a few feet and were almost right between me and my uncle. My shot wasn’t right at him, but it was close enough that he marched right over while yelling at me for my mistake, yanking the shotgun out of my trembling hands and telling me to go sit in the truck for a while and think about what I’d just done. “You could’ve killed me,” he barked, cussing me with more wrath than I ever remember coming from him.

Lesson learned, that’s for sure: safety first, safety first. It seems we as a country can’t learn that lesson — that we can make this country a lot safer with smart laws without banning guns. It’s going to take a whole host of incremental laws until we begin to reduce the onslaught. We’re not going to stop all these mass shootings, be if we can eliminate a handful, perhaps half, then we will have accomplished much.

After the horrific Uvalde shooting where 19 elementary students and two teachers were killed, Congress — with some Republican support — passed a law earlier this year that included expanded background checks for 18- to 21-year-olds, more funding for mental health services and school safety, and funding for programs to take guns from troubled individuals.

But there’s more to be done. In 2020 and 2021, Virginia’s legislature enacted a series of laws that includes universal background checks, a three-year ban on firearm possession for people convicted of assaulting a family member, and a redflag law that gives authorities the ability to seize weapons from people considered a threat. Those kinds of laws are needed nationwide.

The Middle East veteran who was the hero in Colorado Springs described the shooting as similar to what he saw in war zones, with the perpetrator in body armor and weapons blazing. His heroism saved God knows how many lives.

My heart skipped a beat as I heard about that veteran. I remembered Riley Howell, the young man from Haywood County, who also went charging toward a shooter while in class on the campus of UNC Charlotte on April 30, 2019, also likely saving many lives. I knew Riley and his family, and my heart still aches for them. My son was a student at UNCC at that time, and for several minutes I had no idea whether he was hurt until he finally sent a text.

For the love of all those gathered around my table on Thanksgiving and those who gathered around yours, here’s the truth: we can have guns and strict gun controls that will eliminate some — maybe most — of these shootings. We at least have to give it a damn try.

Scott McLeod Editor

(Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com.)

It may be time to amend Constitution

To the Editor:

Rob Schofield in last week’s Smoky Mountain News decried the current Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) as “political” because it has taken the words in the Constitution literally and seriously. Seriously?

If we want to protect abortion, let it be said. If we want to ban semi-automatic weapons, let it also be said. Instead, we continually attempt to treat the document as a “Magic Slate” by defining and re-defining previously unambiguous terms to fit a given circumstance. If we want a different outcome, amend the Constitution!

Hamilton, Jefferson and others suggested periodic re-writes, with Hamilton suggesting that doing so every 19 years would be wise.

We are continually endangering the document and the rights it has given us through our feckless judicial work arounds.

Abortion, marriage and sexual conduct are not addressed by the Constitution. Slavery and religious freedom are. Therefore, the former are not in SCOTUS’ purview, but the latter are rightly subject to federal protections.

What is a “fundamental constitutional right” anyway? My interpretation is that it is only a notional concept used to promote a point of view on a given issue. Apparently SCOTUS agrees, relegating the Dobbs matter to a state issue, where it rightly belongs.

As Justice Antonin Scalia once observed: “The Constitution says what it says, and it doesn’t say what it doesn’t say.” This is the foundation of our federalist system. Justice Samuel Alito was spot on when he called out Justice Harry Blackmun’s reasoning for being the wishful thinking that it was.

The remedies are there for Dobbs and like cases: state statutes or even congressional acts. Those who want change can certainly access the means to get it done.

Dobbs is an important reset of our court system to a point where the roles of the judiciary are properly clarified. We should celebrate it.

James M. Graber Franklin

LETTERS

Will Trump answer to the American people?

To the Editor:

A college football coach will tell you there are three basic units that comprise a football team: offense, defense and special teams. That same coach will also tell you that they are not separate from each other. They all get analyzed by their fan base, by their coaches. They get derided by opposing teams. Still, this goes on with hundreds of teams — there is no national team.

Consider this, however! The U.S. Constitution provides for three branches of government. All three are designed to provide equal services/protection to all Americans. They appear to be separate from each other. But they overlap, as in a three-lobed Venn diagram, in the center. That center is the American people. All Americans have one team. They must work for the good of all.

Former President Donald Trump has become an expert at playing one branch against the other. Even worse, he plays them against the American people to create chaos and confusion.

The Department of Justice is investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Dozens of rioters have already been prosecuted and sentenced for their dangerous roles. Yet, Donald Trump has refused to tell any investigative body whether he played a part in staging the riot/insurrection and/or failing to stop it. This is where Trump thumbs his nose at the American people — the people he was/is supposed to serve.

The Constitution links all elected and appointed officials with the people. Surely the Constitutional framers did not intend for elected officials to separate themselves from the people as Trump has. His refusal to testify suggests he did something he should not have done or failed to do something he should have (or both) while in office.

Will Trump eventually answer to the three branches of American government? Will he answer to the American people? We will see! Dave Waldrop Webster