Concealed carry concerns
It really is time to look at the effects of National Rifle Association lobbying. Maine just enacted a new law supported by the NRA permitting its citizens to carry concealed weapons without a permit, despite the expressed concerns of law enforcement over public safety.
If you are a gun owner, you don’t need to carry a concealed weapon to hunt or to protect your property. The “right to bear arms” doesn’t specify that you have a right to conceal them. And if you tie a waiting period and background check to the permitting process, then you may save innocent lives.
Sandra Adams
Thomaston
End nonmedical vaccine exemptions
Three cheers for the Bangor Daily News editorial board’s support for ending nonmedical exemptions for vaccinations. I am part of a very active community of secular-minded individuals in Maine who believe that public policy based on evidence works best. We know vaccinations work and that they are generally safe. Our children are our future, so let’s put them first by making sure they get the best medical care possible to prevent disease. That treatment is the vaccine.
The only way to prevent people from putting their personal beliefs ahead of the health of our children is to eliminate both the religious and philosophical exemption because we can see from Vermont’s example that people will just use the religious exemption if the philosophical is not available.
Not allowing our children the protection of vaccination does not just put our kids at risk, it also means putting at risk others who genuinely cannot get a vaccine for medical reasons. We can only protect those who cannot receive vaccines if enough people get inoculations. Many terrible infectious diseases are preventable.
Why should unscientific personal beliefs allow some to expose a whole community or their children to preventable diseases, causing ill health or death? We trust the advice of medical professionals on other matters of public health, so why shouldn’t we trust the evidence they provide supporting vaccinations?
In order to protect our freedom, health and children, we must repeal all nonmedical exemptions for vaccinations.
Nathan Grant
Gardiner
Stop the bigotry
It is humiliating that Maine politics have again made the national headlines — this time, for racist posters attacking a candidate in the Lewiston mayoral race. The posters are the latest in a long line of similar examples, and I shudder to consider the reputation we are getting among our fellow Americans.
The small-minded, racist and classist attitudes prevalent in our public dialogue are sometimes difficult for me to process because they are at odds with the way I know our state. For me, Maine is an amazing place to live. But I am white and middle class, and I was born in this country. I am largely shielded from the vicious rhetoric coming from many of our conservative politicians and their supporters.
If we want Maine to be a great state, those of us fortunate enough to be sheltered from the worst of these attitudes must own up to the experiences of our neighbors who are bearing the brunt of them. It is on us to prove that Maine is a place where neighbors support neighbors, and where communities care about one another. It is on us to get involved, to donate to causes and organizations that support our values, to vote for candidates who stand for a different set of principles.
We can change this toxic conversation, but only if we are willing to step outside of our privilege. We should be on our feet in outrage, and we should refuse to sit down until the bigotry stops.
Regina Rooney
Hope