Letters: Values on display

Just days after mass shootings in Nashville and Louisville, the Cheshire County Republican Committee decided to display their values in a paid ad in the Monadnock Shopper News.

Was it a considered reappraisal of this country’s Wild West gun laws? Was it an elegy for the 45,000 Americans who die by guns every year? (For those who keep track, that’s one 9/11 every 15 days.) No, it was for a festive event entitled “30 Guns in 30 Days,” a fundraising raffle to give away 30 weapons for the low, low price of $50 per ticket.

This is in the only country in the world with more civilian-owned guns than people, and (not coincidentally) the highest rate of homicide by guns of any industrialized nation in the world. Firearm injuries (and deaths) tend to be more frequent in places where people have easy access to firearms, according to findings from the 2018 Global Burden of Disease study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

There must be Republicans who care about other issues besides guns and an ultra-narrow conception of “liberty.” How about civility, common-sense gun regulation, public education, reproductive rights, fair elections, affordable health care and housing and equal rights for all? Surely we can work together on some of these issues. So the next time you find yourself in a voting booth, go ahead and put your values on display.  

Paul Robb 

Jaffrey

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