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Keep guns sold in Maine from reaching New York felons
I read with concern the June 24 article "Freeport gun dealer faces federal charges," which details how 11 handguns were allegedly bought as straw purchases for a convicted felon from New York. (A "straw purchase" is when someone with a clean criminal record buys a gun for someone who wouldn't pass a criminal background check.)
The article stated, "Maine is not generally a source of guns tied to criminal activity in New York," but it should be noted that the same isn't true for guns in Massachusetts. Maine is a leading source state for crime guns in Massachusetts. Gun trafficking isn't an industry we want to see growing in Maine.
Gun dealers who are concerned about avoiding the sale of crime guns should join with Wal-Mart in becoming a member of the Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership, a new initiative of the bipartisan coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns. For more information, go to http://tinyurl.com/6hmok3.
Maine allows for the private sale of guns where there is no background check and no records kept. But private sellers can ask questions and can obtain a Gun Seller's Safety Kit from Project Safe Neighborhoods. For information, send an e-mail to usame.psn@usdoj.gov, subject: Gun Seller's Safety Kit, or call 771-3294.
Gun sellers need to take every precaution to ensure that guns do not fall into the wrong hands.
Cathie Whittenburg
New England Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence
Westbrook
Prepackaged content makes Monday paper of little value
This morning's paper (June 23) sank to new depths. Except for the coverage of the Kennebunk Water District meeting and the endless number of sports pages, it appears that the vast majority of the "news" articles were either produced earlier for later use or supplied from wire services.
The paper appears to be a larger edition of those ubiquitous free community newspapers that do not have a newsworthy purpose. It is very difficult to continue to receive your paper each morning without wondering why.
Perhaps you should abandon the Monday morning paper altogether or replace it with an afternoon edition.
John C. Alfano
Biddeford
Water district should put higher value on resource
I am a resident of Wells. I don't connect to the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District, but my well draws water from the Branch Brook aquifer.
I don't fear that selling water from the aquifer would have an adverse effect on my water supply. However, I am not an expert, and if it eventually does, I would attempt to recover damages for what obviously would have been a negligent decision.
What is the water district doing to financially prepare for future problems? Selling water at fractions of a cent per gallon to a company that resells it at prices based on the value to the consumer seems foolhardy. Why doesn't the water district take the same value-based pricing approach with Nestle?
The ability to draw water from an aquifer in Maine -- to be bottled by a company that advertises one of its selling points as water coming from Maine -- has a higher value than what is being offered. The value should be pegged around 10 to 15 cents a gallon. Take the additional monies and invest them to cover potential damages.
Do not be foolish with our resources. If one gives someone the rights to mine their property for gold, they wouldn't do it if they were being compensated only for the value of the dirt -- they would want a percentage of the gold. The water district should do a deal based on the profits Nestle would receive from this water, not based on the price of tap water.
David T. Nilosek
Wells
Bible leaves no doubt on God's perspective on gays
I fail to find any reasoning behind William Vaughan Jr.'s hypothetical supposition ("Personal views influence interpretation of the Bible," June 23), which switches the roles of heterosexuality and homosexuality when referring to Philip Kennard's previous letter ("With Jesus' love, repentant gays can achieve redemption," June 20). Why would God call his own creation a sin?
It was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, who were charged to multiply and replenish the Earth.
As for "a particular passage in the Bible" being quoted and interpreted as Mr. Kennard's "personal feelings," one should know that there are several other passages in reference to this lifestyle choice. Try Romans 1:26-32. And remember Sodom and Gomorrah?
I'm sure Mr. Kennard didn't write the Bible, but the interpretation is in pure simple English that often even a child may understand. I'd be careful to respect someone attempting to show love through the sharing of the Scripture. Only one who would withhold this knowledge has a hatred for his fellow man.
Phil McGee
Standish
Tax rebates won't resolve deep-seated economic issues
To be or not to be. Is it my imagination, or are we citizens being blindsided again by bureaucratic double-talk? Let's review.
Webster says a rebate is "a return of part of an original payment." In other words, in this case, an amount that reflects reimbursement for a tax burden that was incurred by you, the voter.
On the other hand, Webster defines a stimulus as "something that excites or quickens action."
So here's my quandary. Which is it that the government is trying to sell, and why can't the government stop talking out of both sides of its mouth at the same time?
I'm sorry, but that is not how you stimulate the economy. As we all know, not everyone pays the same amount of taxes (which dictates the amount of your "rebate"). Some pay no taxes at all.
To truly "stimulate" the economy, then checks should be distributed across the board, no qualifying parameters to be met, just total participation by the masses. Even if the amount were less, in the long run, it would be more.
Oh wait, did I say "in the long run"? Our government is incapable of thinking that far ahead and, therefore, is out of touch with reality.
I am affected on a grander scale by seeing how this smokescreen will soon dissipate and leave us right back where we were prior to all the hoopla. Band-Aids are for scrapes, but we keep getting burned.
Stephen Signor
Windham
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