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The East Hampton Star, December 27, 2012 B4 else? Senators have a six-year term, but no term limits. Now imagine if none of that were true and everyone had a single six-year term. Six years is long enough for stability and decisive action, but short enough for cleansing and change. This would par- tially paralyze special-interest groups like the N.R.A., and gun control could be addressed. I am not anti-gun and I don’t think any of us are — it’s part of the Ameri- can culture. I have been firing weapons since I was a child, from .22-caliber ri- fles to trap shooting with shotguns. But did the single mother of this monster in Newtown really need an assault rifle to protect herself? Wasn’t a single handgun or two enough? She loved guns and it killed her, along with everyone else who died that day. The argument has been the same for a long time now. Guns don’t kill people, people do, and that it is a changed socie- ty that has led to all of this. Also there have always been a lot of guns around and it is the fault of a more violent and less moral world. Well if that’s true, isn’t that making the case for the other side? You can’t regulate society, but you can regu- late guns. If you can’t change morality, then change the mortality rate from some of these weapons by changing the laws. Let us also stop using the Second Amendment as a shield. If some guy thinks the arsenal in his basement is going to protect him against the gov- ernment and he can rise up against a corrupt one in this day and age, then he is probably also ignorant to the smart bomb that’s coming down his chimney. The point is, an antiquated Second Amendment, which states the right to bear arms, was meant for a time of mus- kets, not madmen killing children. This tragedy also obliterates the ar- gument that if not for a gun, then a knife or another deadly instrument would be used. You could not inflict that kind of carnage in that short of a time. Also, adults would somehow have intervened. At worst you would have had a hostage situation. At best the coward who did this wouldn’t have even tried. Let some good come out of this tragedy. Newtown can save us all from political ineptitude. If we can come to- gether on gun control, the third rail of politics, then we can come together on other issues as well. Let the lessons be learned and lives not lost for nothing. RICHARD C. ILSE Guns in America East Hampton December 24, 2012 To the Editor, Every year in the United States, 1,200 to 1,500 children 15 or younger die from gun-related incidents. Newtown is trag- ic but a small piece of the problem. Most of the other kids were not killed by de- ranged, unstable people. They were the collateral damage of a society that strug- gles to deal properly with the huge amount of arms in circulation. There is a problem around the gun debate. The fabricated hype distorts reality. Money and political scheming overwhelm ra- tional thought and drive the emotional idiocy. There are many ways to look at the is- sue of guns in America, but first and fore- most is that the proliferation of guns is an enormous business with enormous profits. Second is that the U.S. has always had a culture of violence that is different from every other industrialized country. Third, the relationship to Americans and arms is similar to an alcoholic with alco- hol. (Statistics seem to bear out this be- lief that our inclinations to killing each other have a serious socio-pathological derivation that needs to be examined and probably treated.) Fourth is the so-called lack of clarity regarding the Second Amendment regarding arms for protec- tion that has little relevance in the 21st century. (We have a larger security appa- ratus today than we had a population in 1776 — 2.5 million.) Fifth, the National Rifle Association’s original mandate was hunting and conservation. Today, con- servation is a nonstarter, and automatic weapons are for killing. Sixth is that the only freedom having a gun gives us is the opportunity to commit suicide. The gun scam by the N.R.A. and the arms industry is only about the sale of weapons. If the response to Newtown is more arms in the schools or threats to leave the state if new controls are insti- tuted, nothing else needs to be said. All the bullshit about protecting our free- doms, the Constitution, and protecting our homes is really about getting peo- ple to buy more guns. Add the political component of gun ownership to the equation and people are voting for guns over butter. The N.R.A. is asking gun owners to stand up and bend over. We used to buy bonds to help the country, now we buy guns. We are great at mourning. We grieve, hold vigils, plant trees, empathize, sym- pathize, have clergy give speeches, pray, and shed tears. We feel the pain of the victims and with heads bowed and hearts broken we go back to our regu- lar lives, waiting for the next tragedy. We have a problem that demands a national debate. Up to now we’ve ac- cepted as collateral damage the deaths of 1,500 kids every year. It’s obviously not a big enough deal or we would have done something about it. It seems not worth the effort for our politicians to sit down and figure this one out. Is it not a big price to pay for a culture that insists on embracing violence as part of its God-given heritage? NEIL HAUSIG The Critical Issues Springs December 19, 2012 Dear Editor, The liberal media is so in the tank for Obama that during the run for re-elec- tion the liberal elites left out all of the critical issues. They are as follows: out- Ahoy, there. The first to name the two in this photo will win a 2013 Star calendar. Call 324-0002 with the IDs. ✩ Joan Brill was the first caller to rec- ognize Santa’s helper in last week’s photo as the late Frank Brill, who was her brother-in-law. Dr. Alan York called later to add that Mel Lamb of East Hampton Airport was “piloting” the plane that Christmas in 1956, and taxied it down Main Street from Guild Hall to the Five and Dime, which Mr. Brill owned, and where he was on hand throughout the Christ- mas season, “the official Jewish San- ta Claus of East Hampton Village,” said Dr. York, who, with Mr. Brill, was a founding member of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons. Recovering the Past: A Star Contest of-control debt, Obamacare’s trampling of the Constitution and religious liber- ties, sky-high gasoline prices, massive unemployment, fragile housing market, rampant illegal immigration, and the Middle East is about to explode. Benghazi is bigger than Watergate. Will he stall the investigation for the next four years? Hillary Clinton can’t go before Congress to testify; she has a con- cussion. Tons of excuses, and the me- dia ignores, ignores all of it. This president ignores destruction by the union protestors. Why? Because he owes them. He promised in his photo-op with the citizens of Staten Island, New Jersey, and the Rockaways that he would cut the red tape and help. These people are still wondering when is the help go- ing to come, as they guard their homes, oh yes, the homes with no electricity. As he prepares to vacation again in Hawaii these families are going where for Christmas? The so-called bill to help them is now filled with pork, yes, pork. The money is going everywhere but to New York. Oh yeah, you voted for him. Good luck. And toast Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand — they loved the photo-op also, where is their help? Pol- itics talk and bullshit walks. BEA DERRICO Relay Continued from B1 without taboos of unorganized practices such as Paganism, an earth-based reli- gion that does not worship Satan. I am in favor of the legalization of marijuana and feel that most pharmaceutical drugs should be illegal. I tried to wrap my head around the Sandy Hook massacre this week and here’s what I came up with: After an al- tercation at a school, a 20-year-old, men- tally ill man was denied a rifle in Dan- bury, Conn., due to gun control laws that required a 14-day waiting period and background check. This did not stop him from having several guns in his pos- session and using them to kill 20 inno- cent children and 6 adults in that same school. Why then, is gun control the loudest discussion I hear? Yes, control over the hands an assault weapon lands in makes sense, but many laws already exist and are not enforced, or simply do not work for criminals who, by definition, do not usually obey the law or apply for a permit or license. In some communities, heightened gun control has led to more than a 30-percent in- crease in gun violence, as well as a rise in smuggling of cheap machine guns. I was a pre-kindergarten teacher in what seems like another life, and I can- not begin to imagine the horror of a gun- man in a school. In another former ca- reer, I worked with those who had men- tal illness, among them a friendly man with pyromania who told me he felt like burning the building down. I have also known those who struggle with mental illness, and studied psychology as a con- centration in college. This is the issue I would like to hear more about. With skyrocketing rates of suicide among both civilians and military mem- bers, stigmas need to be removed and re- sources found to identify and help those who desperately need it. Domestic inci- dents reported to the police and school psychologists are a great starting point. With some told by police that their men- tally ill family member must be charged with a crime in order to receive “assis- tance,” it’s clear that programs and sup- port for families are a necessity too. Obamacare should address mental well-being, especially personality disor- ders, which afflict about half of all psy- chiatric patients and are characterized by deviant social behavior, ineffective coping skills, extreme anxiety, distress, or depression, usually traced to child- hood or early adulthood. It should be as easy to see a psychia- trist as it is to buy a gun. I have heard too many stories of suicidal people, in- cluding military members with post- traumatic stress disorder, who had to wait over a month for a visit. Law-abiding citizens who use guns responsibly shouldn’t suffer, but they should exercise common sense. First off and most important, keep them locked up, whether there are kids in the house or not. As for school security, the “American Legion Creed” preamble almost reads as a job description, and many other for- mer military members of all ages would qualify and appreciate the job. — Carrie Ann Salvi is a reporter for The Star. Connections Continued from B1 columnist, wrote in these pages some time ago about why Napeague is to be treasured. I am not sure that those who make decisions about how the Town of East Hampton uses its community preservation fund think often about Na- peague, or the part of it called Promised Land, but here is some of what Mr. Pen- ny had to say: “The water table is only a few feet below, and fresh groundwater continu- ally wicks up to supply the bearberry and heather with enough water to keep them thriving. Trees don’t stand a chance, except for the pitch pines in lit- tle hollows, as the winds sweeping across from south to north in the sum- mer and vice versa in the winter keep any from getting a toehold. This close- knit dune plain as far as I can tell is the only one of its kind in New York State, maybe in all of America.” Edible wild mushrooms and prickly pear cactus grow on Napeague. There are other rare plants, including lady slip- pers; cranberry bogs can be found off the road to the south, and wildlife, from toads to snakes to foxes. We have found huge old whale bones, over the years, in the dune craters between Cranberry Hole and Montauk Highway; it is easy to dig up arrowheads, too (although I won’t tell you where). If I could, I would gather botanists and zoologists, birders and expert envi- ronmentalists and ask them to draw a heavy line around the part of the land- scape that remains, in Larry’s words, “very much intact” and, as Larry sug- gested, preserve it “for future cen- turies.” Helen S. Rattray Give Us a Chance Continued from B3 The Way It Was . . . 125 Years Ago 1887 From The East Hampton Star, December 31 There was a fall of several inches of snow on Monday night, but not quite enough for sleighing. — A surveyor who is in the employ of the Railroad Company is expect- ed here next week, at the request of those who have the matter of the proposed extension of the road in charge, for the purpose of determining whether the present line of survey can not just as well be carried further north of Newtown Lane. If this can be accomplished it will make a dif- ference of quite a large amount in the cost of building the road, as the line as it now is takes in several buildings, and the land in that vicinity is quite valuable. — Messrs. Abm. Sherrill, David Fithian, Fred. McCann and Teunis Barnes have been gunning on Montauk the past week. They report the birds as scarce. — The town clock has been on “strike” the past week. We would sug- gest that its demands (for repairs) be acceded to. — Mr. Burnett M. Osborne entertained a large number of his friends at his home in this village on Monday evening. The large and spacious rooms were handsomely trimmed with holly, evergreens and ferns. In the com- pany we noticed many elegant and costly costumes. Prof. Van Houten, discoursed excellent music for dancing and the younger portion of the company made the most of the pleasures of “tripping the light fantastic.” From The East Hampton Star, January 3 At the Southampton Hospital the carpenters have completed their work, the painters are finishing up and the water connections are being made by the plumbers who have completed the plumbing inside. Fur- niture and furnishings are expected within a month and by that time the mechanics will probably have completed their work. — “Christmas was observed in the same manner as it has been in the last forty years at the Suffolk County jail,” said Warden George H. Conklin. “We had the regular turkey dinner. It was a good dinner, but nothing fan- cy at all.” — It is very dark now-a-nights. We await with interest the report of the Electric Light Committee. — Advertisement- If Women Only Knew Hard to do housework with an aching back. Brings you hours of misery at leisure or at work. If women only knew the cause, that Backache pains often comes from weak kidneys. T’would save much needless woe. Doan’s Kidney Pills are for weak kidneys. From The East Hampton Star, December 30 The Star received, this week, a long letter from Madame Chiang Kai- shek, wife of the Generalissimo of China, who is aiding her husband in resisting Japanese invasion in their homeland. The former Mayling Soong, a Wellesley graduate, sister-in-law of Madame Sun Yat Sen and sister of T.V. Soong, long China’s finance minister, is probably the most powerful woman in world politics today. In 1924 in Shanghai, and again early in 1925 in Peking (now Peiping) before her marriage to General Chaing Kai- shek, Mrs. Arnold Rattray had the pleasure of meeting her, and wrote home to The Star about her on several occasions. It was generally felt in the Orient, as far back as 1924, that Japan would start a war. — The “Dorothy” fifty-foot Diesel powered beam trawler owned by Per- ry B. Duryea, made its first trip offshore since being refitted at Wessberg’s boat yard in East Hampton and returned with a load of thirty-five bar- rels of dabs and yellowtails. — The Suffolk County Board of Supervisors at a meeting in Riverhead on Monday, December 27, went on record in favor of the construction of the Long Island loop bridges from Greenport to Shelter Island and Shel- ter Island to North Haven, Sag Harbor, thus connecting the splendid ar- terial highway system along the north and south shores of Eastern Long Island. — New Year’s Eve at Montauk will be something of a “stay at home” night. Most Montauk people are planning a sociable evening on Mon- tauk with friends and neighbors, believing that long trips up the Island to some larger entertainments takes away too much of the evening’s fun. Accordingly a party is planned for the Montauk Tavern, at which there will probably be dancing, and Manager Frank Tuma is planning a buffet supper with favors to distribute. From The East Hampton Star, December 27 Plans for the new Springs-Amagansett dump and zoning were main items on the agenda of the Town Board’s pre-Christmas meeting last Fri- day morning. The Board will meet again tomorrow morning for one pub- lic hearing and a final audit of its 1962 books, and has set its 1963 or- ganization meeting for Friday, Jan. 4. — A coordinated train-and-bus service for the South Shore, proposed by the Long Island Rail Road last August, may become a reality by spring. It would provide local residents with three or four daily round-trips to the City year-round, supplementing the present two round-trip train service. — East Hampton Town Superintendent of Highways Jed Browne an- nounced this week that he will continue “Operation Christmas Tree,” which he found well worth doing last year, as a conservation project. The Town Highway Department will pick up Christmas trees left at the curb by householders on Jan. 3 and 4, and will carry the trees to various places along the beach from East Hampton Village to Montauk, to combat ero- sion. — The stockholders of East Hampton’s 63-year-old Home Water Com- pany will vote Monday, Jan. 7, on a proposition to sell the Company’s en- tire water system to the Suffolk County Water Authority. From The East Hampton Star, December 31 Cracks and settling at the Cranberry Hole Road bridge in Amagansett prompted East Hampton Town to close the span last Thursday, the sec- ond time in the decade it has been shut for repairs. — Seventy-five Long Island post offices have been asked to close their windows Saturday to help the U.S. Postal Service save money, according to John Bernovich, executive vice president of Long Island Area Local of the American Postal Workers’ Union. Among those to be closed are Wainscott, Water Mill, Bridgehampton, Sag Harbor, and Amagansett. — If any good can be found in the brown algae bloom that killed the East End scallop industry, crippling other inshore fisheries as well, it is the presumption — not proven — that it has been pollution that caused it. 25 Years Ago 1987 100 Years Ago 1912 75 Years Ago 1937 50 Years Ago 1962
