School Shootings, Deborah Gonzalez, Frank Ginn and More Letters From Readers

Thoughts And Prayers Won’t Cut It

Enough already with thoughts and prayers and platitudes. Clearly, they are not enough, or we wouldn’t have two students and two teachers dead and another nine injured (and countless others traumatized) in a high school in Winder.

I am not a gun owner, but I accept that a person might own a gun for self-defense. I understand that a person might own a gun for hunting. But I cannot wrap my head around why someone outside the military would need to own an assault-style weapon, whose only purpose seems to me to be to fire rapidly to kill as many people as possible.

Some things we don’t have enough of:

· Common-sense gun laws that prioritize safe practices (training, safe storage, background checks, red flag laws, etc.).

· Courageous politicians who prioritize their constituents’ lives over gun rights and their own reelections.

· An uncorrupted Supreme Court that does not deliberately or incompetently misread the Second Amendment. 

· Mental health counselors in schools to work with youngsters showing signs of alienation.

· Training for teachers to recognize the danger signs in young people and resources to refer them for appropriate help.

· Metal detectors in every school.

In a nation that has more guns than people, this would be a start toward a more healthy society.

Suzanne Sperling

Athens

We Need Common-Sense Gun Laws

The terror of a school shooting blanketed Barrow County last week. Four dead, nine wounded, a 14-year old arrested, and teenagers traumatized for life by overwhelming grief and shock. Schools should be a safe place, plain and simple. Our kids go through drills in case of a school shooter and parents give them bulletproof backpacks. This is not supposed to be our kids’ experiences. 

I want to see stronger gun laws. I also want to make sure we do not demonize gun owners. Let’s set our sights on gun lobbies and the politicians beholden to them. I’m talking about you, Rep. Mike Collins. Let’s get some commonsense protections in place so folks can hunt and our children are safe.  

There is common ground between urban and rural voters on gun policies. We all want to see background checks for guns, including those purchased at gun shows. We believe anyone on the no-fly list should also be on a no-buy list for guns. We think anyone with a record of violence should not have access to firearms. We should not be arming teachers. We agree the NRA is just another lobbying group looking out for big corporations and no longer represents the hunters across America.

Gun safety legislation introduced in our state General Assembly gets blocked by Republicans every year despite a broad majority of Georgians wanting lawmakers to pass stricter firearm rules. Republicans dominate our state government. Maybe it’s time to change the balance to protect our children and schools can once again become a safe place.

Peggy Perkins

Winder

Defeat Frank Ginn in November

Frank Ginn is the most vulnerable Republican in any of the local district races. A member of his own party primaried him in the spring.

Ginn burned his bridges in Madison County. For years he double dipped as state senator and head of the Madison County IDA. As of 2022, public records show that Ginn’s senate salary was $17,342. Senate per diem and expenses, including mileage, totaled $34,794. Ginn’s IDA salary was $64,272 with a mileage allowance of $4,800. The grand total was $121,208 annually.

From the time of his election in 2010, records show that Ginn pocketed an additional $161,384 from his campaign as travel mileage reimbursement. Ginn claimed a total of 293,163 miles— enough to circle the globe almost 12 times.

While at the IDA, Ginn promoted only one new industry, Georgia Renewable Power, a biomass plant in Colbert. Instead of producing clean energy, as promised by Ginn, the plant burned railroad ties treated with creosote, a known carcinogen. The plant not only polluted air in Madison and surrounding counties, its runoff polluted surrounding farms and waterways. Ginn managed to inflict more environmental damage to the region than anything since the boll weevil.

GRP was supposed to broaden the tax base, and it may have done so. Our taxes went up anyway.

We may never know what, if anything, GRP paid Frank Ginn and other elected officials. The Republican-led Georgia legislature only requires reporting of gifts by registered lobbyists.

In 2022, Madison County fired Ginn for missing grant application deadlines, alienating businesses trying to obtain county water, and otherwise failing to do his job. The county paid Ginn $40,000 just to get rid of him.

As head of the senate transportation committee, Ginn persuaded a state contractor to remove scrap metal from a bridge replacement to Ginn’s 102 acre farm. Ginn sold the scrap and pocketed the money. Taxpayers got nothing.

Currently Ginn is soliciting campaign contributions from contractors seeking state bids. Businesses bidding for highway projects pass these costs on to the state as part of the cost of doing business. Taxpayer dollars pay for these add-on costs.

Frank Ginn has taken care of Frank Ginn. He doesn’t deserve your vote.

Harriet Jenkins Gray

Royston

When Is the Time to Talk Gun Control?

JD Vance says gunning down children with AR-15-style weapons is “just a fact of life.” Gov. Brian Kemp says, “Today is not the day for politics and policy.” The state legislature refuses to pass gun safety measures long since enacted in other states. The blood of the innocents in Winder is on the hands of every legislator who refuses to enact the measures which Georgians have begged them to pass and that save lives.

The legislature will not even pass a law requiring parents to use locks to keep deadly weapons out of the hands of children, a bill that likely would have saved four lives in Winder on Sept. 4. Gun safes save lives in ways that hardened classrooms, panic buttons, metal detectors, clear backpacks and armed resource officers clearly cannot. Why not give a tax break for purchasing any tool that keeps guns safely stored?

Legislators know red flag laws work. Any legislator, knowing a loved one is in crisis, will surely prevent that person from access to a gun to harm themselves or others.

Responsible gun owners lock them up, want gun users trained on safe use and prevent those intending to harm others or themselves from having easy access to guns.

We urgently need sensible gun safety legislation. They do not affect Second Amendment rights. But they do save the lives of our children. So why don’t our legislators want to protect our kids?

Way past time for our legislators to finally put the safety of our children first.

Bruce Menke

Athens

Vote Out Gonzalez

I am a passionate victim advocate. I was involved in the criminal justice system in Georgia for decades. I worked with and trained law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys and advocates. I am asking you to take a minute to hear me out about the Western Judicial Circuit’s District Attorney’s race. It is an office that requires considerable knowledge, experience and training and really should not be a politicized position.

Our current District Attorney, Deborah Gonzalez, did not and does not have the qualifications to hold this office. Because she lacks the basic knowledge of criminal law, victims of violent crime in our community have been ignored, denied justice and put at risk. Violent offenders have been released because of prosecutorial negligence and misconduct.

Gonalez was charged with violating the Crime Victims Bill of Rights (Marsy’s Law) in four different cases. This law is what gives victims of violent crime certain rights that are constitutionally protected and enforced.

In one of these cases (State vs. Michael Lareco Daniel), the defendant was charged with rape, incest and child molestation. The DA’s office was not prepared for trial, they neglected to file the proper paperwork, and when the court insisted that the case proceed, the prosecutor dismissed the charges. Neither the victim nor her mother were involved or informed of any of these decisions made by the prosecutor’s office. The victim’s mother subsequently filed a Marsy’s Law violation, resulting in the DA’s office having to recuse itself from the case and necessitating a special prosecutor be appointed by the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia. The special prosecutor had the original charges reinstated and in their investigation discovered another victim of the same defendant. The defendant was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Because Gonzalez did not know how to prosecute a criminal case, she hired a prosecutor from another jurisdiction to lead her team of prosecutors. One of the first cases this attorney took on was a rape case. During the trial it was discovered that he did not turn over exculpatory evidence to the defense. Based on this prosecutorial misconduct, the defense attorney immediately requested a mistrial, which the judge granted, and the defendant was released.

The Brady Rule says that prosecutors are legally and ethically responsible to turn over any material evidence they have that is favorable to the defendant. It is a basic rule of law that has been in existence for over 50 years. Everyone has a right to due process and a fair trial. When a prosecutor fails in their constitutional duties in this way the truth suffers as does the reputation and trust in the district attorney’s office. The consequences of violating the Brady Rule can range from contempt of court to disbarment.

These are only two mishandled cases. Unfortunately there are many, many more.

Gonzales’ claims that her critics are politically motivated are just not true. Any district attorney needs to know a great deal about criminal law, which is complicated and constantly changing as new case law is generated. Gonalez was an entertainment attorney, which did not prepare her for this position.

Kalki Yalamanchili is running as an independent for district attorney in November because he understands that this office should not be politicized. He has the knowledge, training and experience to run a prosecutorial office. Please vote for him. Athens needs a functioning prosecutor’s office.

Victims of violent crime need and deserve a qualified district attorney. Citizens of Athens shouldn’t have to worry about the release of violent felons because of an incompetent prosecutor.

Nancy Hunter

Athens

Autocracy or Democracy?

That is the simple, stark choice Americans are currently facing, and is ultimately far more consequential than any other issue being discussed by either party.

Donald Trump has clearly stated his intention to rule as an autocrat, and there is no reason to think that he won’t follow through. History shows that autocracies are generally a disaster for the citizens while very beneficial to the leader and a close circle of friends and allies. Human rights and personal freedoms are among the first things to go. Notable examples include: Mao in China, Hitler in Germany, Hirohito in Japan, Castro in Cuba, Putin in Russia and Maduro in Venezuela.

Perhaps Trump will be an exception to the above list and forgo any opportunities for personal enrichment, but unfortunately, his past behavior indicates otherwise. And as for the pursuit of political enemies and the loss of personal freedoms for the citizenry, that is one promise he is almost sure to keep.

Kurt Silvershield
Athens

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