Guns just make you stupid

10/18/2009

Apparently, if you carry a gun and are somewhat able to pull the trigger, that makes you tough. Everyone in the country got a chance to witness just how tough a few of Toledo's finest citizens were in a video shootout at the Route 66 bar.

Then there was another shooting at Malibu's over a poker game. Good job, guys, way to draw more negative attention to poker. Why is it that so many disagreements have to be settled with a gun? Are we really that insecure about ourselves that as soon as someone disagrees with us we feel the need to shoot them?

I do not condone violence of any sort but whatever happened to a good old fist fight? No weapons except what God gave us.

Some were quick to blame the depleted police force for the Route 66 shootout. Honestly, do you think any of these people were thinking about getting caught when they opened fire?

Did the gentleman who pulled a gun at Malibu's first look around to see if any policemen were near before he pulled out his gun? Yes, it would be nice to have a full police force, but that is not going to stop the violence. Violence is first a state of mind.

Somewhere along the way, too many of us have lost the ability to think about our fellow man and what we are doing.

Pulling out a gun does not make you tough. It just makes you stupid.

Michael Becker

McDonald Street

I keep getting mail that I don't want and have to keep tearing up and burning about casinos in Ohio. We keep voting it down and they keep bringing it up again. When will what the people say mean something? Why not listen to us, the public?

They say 34,000 jobs will be brought to Ohio. How can four casinos bring inthat many jobs? If someone would sit down and do the math, they will find out that isn't possible.And benefits? Figure it out - there aren't any.

We found out that voting for something that seems good for us turns out to be our downfall.I would think that we would learn from that.Please, don't believe that casinos are good for Ohio. They aren't.

It's bad enough that we don't have jobs here, that next to Michigan, our unemployment percentage is high. How is it, then, that we have money to gamble away?

Why do they call it gambling? Because that's what it is. You're gambling with money that you don't have to get something that the casino's won't let you get.

You can't win. They'll see to that. They are professionals, after all.

On top of that, who wants the mafia and gangsters here? We know without even thinking about it what will come in with this type of business. Do you want your sons and daughters working at places like that? I would hope not. It's not safe and most of us know that.

Please don't vote them in.Maybe they'll get the idea and stop trying to bring them into our state.

Darla Eagy

Archbold, Ohio

Who is speaking for the "we" in the ads: "It's time we stood up for Ohio"? Who is saying, "Take charge Ohio"?

Imagine if all the money being spent on the massive advertising campaign to promote state Issue 3 (for casinos) were to be put into the City of Toledo's budget. All the laid-off police officers could be put back on the job.

Supposedly $250 million is to be spent on the Toledo casino. This gives some clue to the big-money interests behind casinos in Ohio. Imagine if that much capital spending were put to work in other sectors of the local economy.

Jim Machen

Goddard Road

If you'd like to see sharp increases in embezzlement, suicide, robbery, drunk driving, and broken families, vote to put a casino in our back yard.

If you want to pull customers out of restaurants, bars, theaters, and sports arenasall around northwest Ohio and send them to a huge box right outside of Rossford's downtown, vote for casinos.

Casinos have one goal - to entice every person who walks in their doorto gamble more often, for longer hours, and at higher wagers.Casinos do this by providing free drinks and inexpensive food; by using sophisticated psychological research to make slot machines more alluring and habit-forming, and by building a database on each customer through their player cards and then marketing directly to that customer. That'sthe way casinos make money,and they're very good at it.

Would a casinoright outsideRossfordkeep dollars here that otherwise go to Detroit? No way. No casino would open here ifits customer base would be only the few hundred folks whotake the time todrive to Detroit and park for a night of gambling.

The casino will depend on creating tens of thousands of new customers, and willalso dependon turning high percentages of those new customersinto the repeat customers that drive profit and ruin lives.

Would casinos create jobs? Maybe,solong asyou don't count the restaurants and bars they put out of business and the lives they destroy.

Toledo is a family town with wonderful restaurants, bars, theaters, and sports teams. We don't need a casino to drag us down. We need real jobs - where people make things or provide a valuable service.

Vote no on Issue 3.

Peter R. Silverman

Barrington Drive

As operators of hotels in the city, we enthusiastically support Issue 3's plan to bring a first-class casino to Toledo. We welcome the opportunity to serve more guests, which will certainly result if voters approve the statewide issue authorizing the casino to be built.

Issue 3 will give a big boost to the Toledo and Lucas County economy by providing over 2,100 jobs to construct the Toledo casino, over 1,800 permanent jobs when the casino opens, and over $26 million annually that will be distributed to the city, county, and local schools.

The casino will bolster our convention business and bring more visitors to downtown Toledo. This will benefit numerous businesses, including hotels, restaurants, clubs, and transportation companies.

The American Gaming Association says that one-quarter of all American adults visit a casino each year.

A Toledo casino will provide another attraction to complement the many attractions Toledo currently offers visitors to our city.

We also have no doubt the casino will be professionally operated and quickly become a great asset to Toledo. We are supporting Issue 3 and urge other businesses to do the same. A thriving downtown Toledo benefits all of us.

Andy Kim

CEO

Paradise Hospitality

Laguna Beach, Calif.

Michael A. Sapara

General manager

Park Inn Toledo

To the writer who thinks health-care benefits should only be for people who work, I work full time, my company does not offer benefi ts, and I cannot afford to buy my own.

I don't know the statistics, but I would bet that the majority of people without health care also work or have lost their jobs due to the economic situation today.

God forbid something should happen to me and I end up with medical bills I cannot pay. I would have to declare bankruptcy and live on government handouts.

Your tax dollars would end up helping me.

MARIE VITOU

Hughes Boulevard