— In 2006, a gunman entered an Amish schoolhouse and shot 10 young girls, killing five. The Amish are God-fearing people.

If the recent shootings in Newtown and other places are the result of this nation’s “godlessness,” why did the shooting in the Amish school happen? Do we really believe that God punishes the innocent for the wickedness of others?

Those who believe this, and who believe that humans have the power to push God out of our schools, have a rather small view of God.

Do we have such an inflated view of ourselves that we believe the God who set the limits of the sky and the seas would himself be set by our limits?

What fuels our violent culture, and the recent shootings that have erupted, is fear. People fear crime, changes in their communities and decreases in law enforcement, so they purchase guns. Economic woes continue to feed this fear as they deprive our communities of resources to protect their citizens. Politicians keep silent and fail to act out of fear of losing their positions. Subsequently, criminals such as the shooter in Webster, N.Y., are empowered by lax enforcement of current laws.

To find a solution to this problem we need courage, not fear. We need courage to change our violent culture and to curb our insatiable hunger for high-powered weaponry. This change needs to happen immediately, before another child, another first-responder, or another church woman decorating for Christmas loses his or her life.

Rev. Jennifer Oaks

Johnstown



Stricter laws needed on assault weapons

We all have the right to bear arms to protect and defend ourselves, for sportsmanship and hunting.

I own guns for sportsmanship and defense. I believe there needs to be stricter laws on assault weapons. Most assault weapons are purchased on the black market.

There is one strategy to educate ourselves and empower ourselves to be better trained in circumstances we can handle before a disaster.

The ALICE program educates, trains and empowers people on how to encounter and deal with insane, off-balanced individuals, etc., who scheme plans to enter schools, federal buildings, organizations, etc., to cause harm and take the lives of innocent people:

A: Approach attacher and keep them in one area.

L: Lock down.

I: Investigate (where attacker is located).

C: Counter attack (keeping attacker in one area).

E: Exit (properly to safety).

We as a people and nation need to redefine ourselves for future generations. With a Congress divided, our Constitution begins with the words “We the people ...”

We the people need to step up and tell our Congress and other leaders that we have had enough of innocent manslaughter.

B.J. Mroczka

Johnstown



Preventing tragedies: Some starting points

A terrible tragedy took place in Newtown, Conn. Twenty-six innocent people were executed by a deranged individual, 20 of them small children. The shooter then took his own life.

When something like this happens, people are shocked and look to place blame other than where it belongs.

The anti-gun movement blames guns (and gun owners). Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

The California teachers are blaming the gun manufacturers. This makes about as much sense as blaming the auto industry when a drunk driver kills a pedestrian (let’s ban all cars).

Rather than acting without thinking and in haste, we need to consider all options.

Here are a few ideas. Let’s have armed security in schools. (Aren’t our kids as important as financial institutions, the Congress and the president?) These could be retired or off-duty police, ex-military, etc. What if teachers and administrators with gun permits were permitted to carry their concealed weapons in the schools?

Fewer lives would have been lost or the shooter would have avoided the defended school altogether.

Bad people with guns can only be stopped by good people with guns. What about a mental-health registry?

FBI statistics have shown that as gun ownership has increased, violent crime has decreased. When we look at the number of gun deaths, we must take out all the criminals killed by police or citizens defending themselves.

While we consider all options, we must provide immediate security at all schools to protect the innocent.

Bill Gallus

Johnstown

 

John Sroka’s heritage will last a long time

John E. Sroka, who died Dec. 22, was not only our good neighbor but also one of the region’s most significant Catholics.

If you knew him or read the fine print in his paid obituary, you know that he founded and fostered a multitude of charities at a time when Greater Johnstown was undergoing economic upheaval.

As a college student, John began with nothing, worked hard to become highly successful in business, then gave it up to become a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church.

He recognized before most people that the decline in the steel industry in the ‘70s and ’80s was not cyclical. Bethlehem, with all its good jobs, was not coming back.

We needed more than the usual stop-gaps to deal with the massive dislocation. And we needed to take care of people who could not deal with their plight or the agencies that should help them.

Just as he had engaged in urban renewal and industrial development, he established a regional food bank and kitchens, counseling services, ombudsmen, a St. Vincent de Paul outlet and numerous other ministries.

His heritage will last for a long time.

George Fattman

Westmont

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