In Ohio, there have been at least 11 shootings this year by children, according to Signal Cleveland. Ohio should enact strict gun storage policies as well as gun safety education in school curricula when children hit seventh grade.
Many shootings have been unintentional due to Ohio’s weak gun safety laws. According to the Giffords Law Center, the state of Ohio ranks 25th for gun law strength and has had a 9% increase above national average for shootings, while California has the highest-ranked gun laws in terms of strength with a 44% decrease in shootings.
The ranking reflects on the laws that California has compared to Ohio. California has laws on gun storage polices, age restriction, and open/concealed carry. On the other hand, Ohio has no gun storage policy, lower age restriction, and legalization of open/concealed carry. These laws have a direct impact on guns being accessible to children.
A study from Ohio State University in July of 2023 looked at a way to help kids notice and understand gun safety. The study consisted of 226 children and split them into two groups. From there, they showed each group a gun safety and a car safety video. From the study, they found that kids who viewed the video relating to gun violence were more likely to tell a trusted adult when coming across a firearm than the children who did not.
We urge Ohio to pass more legislation that will prevent easy accessibility of guns to children. Then maybe we will see a drop in unintentional shootings and higher ranking in gun laws like California.
Emily Contos, Madden Lutz, Nick Lombardo, University of Akron students
When officers miss
It has always been my understanding that our police officers are trained to fire their weapons center-mass. When Officer Westlake shot a teenager with a toy pistol through the hand, he was not making a spectacular trick shot: he missed. Praise be to God.
Jim D. Martin, Akron
Spare readers
To the Beacon Journal, please spare the readers editorials about sex discrimination in the turbulent world of politics. The Dec. 1 piece “Harris loss illustrates gender inequality…“ appears to be derived from a pretentious seriousness of academic gender studies, which, in general, are devoid of real world and common sense perspectives.
For the record, this country does not need a female, a minority, a transsexual, or even a male president – we simply need a qualified and assertive individual who is aware and astute in the realms of negotiations, economics and the current threats to this country, including leadership with an ability to acquire attention and respect internationally.
None of these key attributes were mentioned in the editorial and are evidently deemed secondary to electing a member of the “correct” gender. When judgements were made in the campaigns of Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris, history will show the most skilled and suitable candidate was their opponent, Donald J. Trump.
Continuing on the theme of the subject editorial, has any president-elect nominated a greater number of women to the White House staffing than what is now ongoing? So much for disrespect and inequality!
Philip Leber, Akron
Response from Save A Lot
As you wrote about in your recent story, Save A Lot stores in the Akron area have recently been rebranded, and we wanted to make you aware of the true situation and efforts behind the scenes to keep these stores open and ensure the community continues to have access to fresh, affordable and high-quality groceries from Save A Lot.
Over the last several months, Save A Lot has been doing everything in our power to keep these stores open and operating pending an acquisition where the stores will be run as corporate Save A Lot locations. Unfortunately, we have exhausted our efforts to continue to support the current owner, who has taken brazen actions to convert these Save A Lot stores to a brand he created called “Value Food Market.”
In fact, outrageous conduct by the current owner of these stores has not only damaged the Save A Lot reputation; it has also put customers at risk by selling expired groceries and other food safety issues. Save A Lot has discovered numerous instances of expired products being sold to customers as recently as Saturday, Nov. 16, and the expired products include baby formula, fresh meat and other items.
We are currently pursuing legal action to retake ownership of these stores and restore them to Save A Lot’s high operational standards. Once a decision is reached to return the stores to our brand, we will take immediate steps to ensure these stores are re-opened as Save A Lot and continue to serve the community with pride.
It’s possible that there may be a brief interruption in service as we make the transition back to Save A Lot, but we are committed to maintaining our operations locally and preserving customer access to outstanding value and quality.
We look forward to continuing to serve Akron and the surrounding communities.
Fred Boehler, chief executive officer, Save A Lot
Justice is dead
I’ve been troubled deeply since the election. I’ve been dealing with so many emotions and thoughts, and it’s taken me a while to find the origin of my feelings.
Today it hit me. With his election, the death of justice in our nation was confirmed. Donald Trump, convicted on 34 counts in the hush money case and the subject of serious investigations for election interference and mishandling classified documents, has avoided accountability by retaking the presidency. His unchecked return to power, I would argue, has exposed the utter collapse of the rule of law here in the United States.
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s abandonment of the election interference and classified documents cases is not just a failure, it is the nail in the coffin for a system that was supposed to hold EVERYONE accountable, no matter their title. Instead, Trump has shown us that justice in the United States is nothing more than an illusion, a façade, reserved for the powerless while the powerful get to walk free.
There is no fixing this. Justice has been mocked, shattered and left for dead. The ideals of fairness, accountability and equality under the law no longer exist in America. This is not a democracy. This is not a republic. It is a hollow shell where power protects itself and truth is meaningless.
I no longer believe there is hope for this nation to recover. This moment marks the end of the rule of law and the beginning of something much darker. What comes next will not be justice, it will be survival. So arm up and buckle up buttercups!
Kevin Conner, Canal Fulton
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ohio needs better laws to protect kids from gun injuries | Letters