Five bills were introduced at the 2021 legislative session in South Carolina that would allow open carrying of semi-automatic pistols and revolvers in public settings.
Imagine walking down the aisle of a grocery store with a child or grandchild, entering a restaurant, beauty salon, theater, park or playground and seeing a semi-automatic weapon on the waist or in the hand of a man or woman.
Passing an open transport law would allow just that. How does this make sense when we look at the following:
- Giffords Law Center, a non-profit organization whose mission is to prevent armed violence, recently launched the Gun Law Scorecard 2020 and South Carolina received an F grade.
- South Carolina had the eighth highest firearm mortality rate and the United States has experienced the highest number of firearm deaths in the past 20 years.
- A bar worker on King Street was shot this month for simply enforcing a surf at 11pm.
At a time when political tensions are high, a stressful pandemic is entering its second year and a violent insurrection has shocked our nation, our legislators need to focus on ways to curb armed violence, not prepare us for more potential violence and certainly more afraid.
Contact your state senator and representative immediately to request legislative responsibility.
SALLY SMITH
Halsey Street
Charleston
Antidote to waste
Much has been published about the state of garbage on South Carolina’s roads and waterways, most of them negative.
The good news is that there are Lowcountry antidotes nearby, providing solutions.
First, each county in Lowcountry has a strong group of volunteer environmental activists who strive to keep their communities free from rubbish.
These local Keep America Beautiful affiliates host and seek volunteer opportunities in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties.
Volunteers can safely leave the house and participate in community activities like Adopt-A-Highway, Great American Clean Up, Francis Marion Clean Up, Litter Index and more.
In Berkeley County, our Keep Berkeley Beautiful emphasis is on safe small group activities, such as Adopt-a-Landing, 100 Live Oaks and Beautiful Berkeley Gateways.
We also organize education projects designed to eradicate waste, encourage recycling and beautify Berkeley County.
Subscribe to Keep Berkeley Beautiful by contacting Sarah McCarthy Smith at 843-719-2383 or [email protected].
Volunteers, however, are only half the solution to waste: we are the rest.
Each of us needs to think about and be responsible for it.
- We are personally responsible for ensuring that our garbage goes to a trash bin at home, at a convenience center or properly recycled.
- We can understand the damage to our natural environment caused by a piece of garbage thrown from the window of a vehicle or boat.
- We can consider how our waste affects our neighbors, the community and our untouched natural resources.
Be part of the antidote to the litter in the time of COVID-19 and beyond.
CHRIS VOLF
President, Keep Berkeley Beautiful
McCrae Drive
Moncks Corner
Students need routine
So that no one has any doubts about the need for young children to be in the classroom full time at school, read “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”, a semi-autobiographical novel from 1943 written by Betty Smith.
There are insights from an 11-year-old girl who lived in the slums of an immigrant neighborhood in the early 20th century.
They still apply today.
In chapter 21, the author writes: “Francie liked school … the regimental routine of many children, all doing the same things at the same time, gave her a sense of security. She felt she was definitely part of something, part of a community brought together under a leader with a single purpose. “
This book contains timeless fragments of wisdom about human nature.
BEVERLY O’BRIEN
Highwood Circle
Charleston
Must-see rush
In response to a Saturday letter to the editor lamenting Rush Limbaugh’s death and singing his praise, I would like to say that this worship of Dittohead is unjustified and disrespectful.
The saying goes that “if you have nothing good to say about someone, don’t say anything”.
History disagrees. Although hatred is not a legacy that anyone can leave, that man’s legacy is a normalization of hatred.
He glorified disrespect for ordinary Americans. Limbaugh celebrated the death of gay men due to AIDS and was a misogynist.
He scoffed at the deaths of Eric Garner, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and blacks due to police brutality, as well as defending the Capitol insurrection on January 6.
I don’t celebrate any deaths, but I don’t regret yours either. I celebrate that his voice has been silenced and I regret the legacy he left behind.
JULIO CACERES
Whitefield Court
Summerville