What about gun control?

I live in Falls Church, Va., but I grew up in Raleigh, so I frequently read The News & Observer online.

I believe in sensible gun laws to help keep guns out of the hands of criminals and mentally unstable people. I am not sure what North Carolina's "rating" is in terms of gun-safety laws, but I know Virginia's is not good at all (in my opinion). At any rate, I think you could have made this a stronger article by at least asking the minister and his wife how they plan to deal with keeping guns out of the wrong hands.

I understand that this was a news article, announcing the opening of a new gun store; however, there was ample opportunity for the mere mention of implementing sensible gun laws. Surely a minister would see the relevance of this issue and should not object to a question about it.

I think as citizens concerned about gun violence in our country, we all need to take the time to mention the need for common-sense gun laws whenever we can. This is about our safety and our children's safety, and I'm sure God, who supposedly handed down the name of this new gun store, would welcome the introduction of safety and the preservation of human life into this conversation. Not a radical idea, is it?

Hannah Jordan

Falls Church, Va.

Open space has benefits

In response to the article "Divided board increases open space requirement," I urge all members of the Board of Commissioners to recognize the importance of striking a healthy balance between developed land and open space. Open space needs to be planned for, the same as roads and other infrastructure. Besides the environmental benefits, preserving open space also provides important recreational benefits through parks and greenways, and preserves important cultural and historic resources, such as the Bentonville Battlefield. Yes, we are in a recession. But a dollar invested today protects far more land for future generations than it did a few years ago. That makes the returns on investment, in the form of clean water, clean air and much more, even higher than usual.

Johnston County is blessed with an abundance of natural resources, including agricultural lands, forests, parks, and stream and river corridors. Jeff Carver and Allen Mims have consistently pushed for better protection of these resources, and it's a positive sign that Tony Braswell, DeVan Barbour and Ray Woodall also voted for the amendment to the county land-use rules. However, I hope that the other commissioners, even the current chairman, can see the benefits of protecting the natural heritage of their own county.

Chris Dowdle

Clayton

Congress's 'great successes'?

Since Democrats took control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate over three years ago, the economy has tanked, unemployment has skyrocketed, the national debt has more than doubled, home foreclosures are at record levels, hundreds of banks have failed, deficits are rising, and dangerous inflation looms on the horizon.

Three years of Democratic control of the House and Senate, and one year with control of the House, Senate and White House. All the while, as the economy collapsed, they promoted global-warming legislation (cap and trade), socialized health care, a government takeover of General Motors, bigger government and endless debt to be passed along to our children and grandchildren.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge has proclaimed this Democrat agenda a great success and honestly, wholeheartedly believes he has earned yet another term representing us in Washington. He says we should re-elect him. I tremble to think of how many more "great successes" he would bring us were we to do so.

Mark Otto

Cleveland

The writer is chairman of the 2nd Congressional District Republican Party.