March for Life, John Cornyn, Fix NICS Act, Bullying, Gun Violence, Lewis Foundation, Corsicana

Where was Trump?Re: "'We will ... fight for our dead friends' — Thousands take to the streets in D.C., Dallas to put focus on gun control," Sunday news story. Young people all across America marched for life and against gun violence on Saturday. Where was President Donald Trump? He might have stayed in Washington and even gone to the march. After all, he says the safety of students is very important to him. Instead, he flew to his mansion and golf club in Florida for the weekend. He even altered the route from the airport to the golf course so he wouldn't encounter the marchers there. Sunday morning, he didn't send a single tweet of support to the students. Where was Trump when one of the most important events of the year took place? He went missing. Sad!Roger T. Quillin, DallasNICS Act a good startHaving been a young person participating in the March for Our lives in Austin, I would like to commend Sen. John Cornyn on his introduction of the Fix NICS Act that was signed into law as part of the omnibus spending bill. Many of us in the March for Our Lives movement view the Fix NICS Act as a positive step in the right direction, but it is not enough. The next step for Congress would be for the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations to hold hearings on the Assault Weapons Ban of 2018 and then bring it to the floor for a vote and send it on to their Senate colleagues. The American people in our neighborhoods, schools, places of worship, entertainment venues, night clubs, etc. are not demonstratively safer today than they were nearly a month ago when 14 students and three educators were murdered in a school shooting in Parkland, Fla. Americans won't be until President Donald Trump signs into law pieces of legislation that ban assault weapons and close the ridiculous gun show loophole. And if Congress refuses to act, the voting bloc that is the young people of this country hope they enjoy retirement.Michael Clarke, Far North DallasChange your social cultureMy generation of young people spoke up and made people listen and helped end the Vietnam War in which our friends were being killed. I support this generation's efforts in speaking up. However, the remedy you seek is in the hands of legislators. You have the attention of the nation and the world. There is an immediate change you and only you can make. Change your social culture. Pledge to stop bullying — intervene and report, unfriend and unfollow cyber bullies. Welcome into school activities and welcome into your social lives the weirdo, the nerd, the socially awkward, the newbie, the fat, the non-athletic, the one from a different culture, the brainiac, the special needs one, the gay, the transgender, the out-of-the-box thinker, the loner. Exclusion of these people is the subtlest form of bullying, easily unnoticed, and not included in the definition. People can get guns. Bullied and excluded people get angry. Angry people act out. March for Our Lives participants, only you can do this. I hope you will. I fear you will not.Kate Weller, Gun Barrel CityPower to "Never Again"Isn't it wonderful that teens are gathering, marching and demanding that adults do something about gun control, mental health aid and school safety? What a travesty that the White House, Congress and the National Rifle Association don't get it! Power to the "Never Again."Hank Evers, McKinneyCollect gun violence dataI live in a place where gun ownership abounds and most people I know are responsible gun owners. In fact, in an ideal world we can have the right to gun ownership and the people who own guns are responsible, level-headed individuals who can control their impulses and manage their anger.Unfortunately we do not live in that world. And ideals mean nothing when there are people dying bloody deaths due to non-level-headed, angry and impulsive people getting their hands on firearms. Especially firearms like the AR-15 that can cause so much damage in such a short period. So I urge Congress to look past ideals and focus on the research about gun violence to make their decisions. In fact, a good start would be to have organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention start collecting data about gun violence and begin to make data-driven decisions when creating gun policy.Jennifer L.W. Colón, Dallas/BluffviewImproving relationshipsRe: "I gave up nagging my husband for Lent — Peggy Wehmeyer chose to 'throttle back' and got the partnership she had always wanted," Wednesday Viewpoints.Well-known and highly respected writer Peggy Wehmeyer shared a personal epiphany in this Viewpoints column. She discovered that when she fully respected her husband's right to have his own opinions, values and beliefs (even when they ran counter to hers) and by quietly accepting them instead of trying to convince him that he was wrong and she was right by "nagging" him to change, it radically improved their relationship. This is a textbook example of one of the 10 behaviors we encourage romantic couple partners to rely on if they want to improve the quality of their relationship. We call it "respect for subjective reality." It's a simple concept we define as, "The extent to which couple partners or family members respond to each other with clear regard for the other's inner experience — views, feelings, opinions, wishes, dreams, fears, values, beliefs and judgments. A crucial test occurs when the respondent disagrees but does not challenge the right of the other to have such inner experience." The first time Wehmeyer offered quiet acceptance of a significant difference in beliefs between them, an almost magical sense of loving closeness enveloped them both. And if you are a man and are thinking that the world would be a better place if all women would be like that, you may be surprised to know that men are more often guilty of this "I'm right, you're wrong, let me explain it to you so you'll understand" behavior than are women. It's so common in men it even has its own special name: "mansplaining." The staff of the Jerry M. Lewis M.D. Mental Health Research Foundation, with the assistance of psychologists at the University of Texas at Dallas, are creating the Lewis Foundation Couple and Family Evaluation Scales (the Lewis Scales). Respect for subject reality is one of our 10 couple scales.John T. Gossett, Dallas, Lewis Foundation board trusteeOutrageous and offensiveRe: "Gorilla statue once deemed racially insensitive returns," Sunday Metro & State community briefs.I am a senior citizen who is outraged that Corsicana has now put a gray gorilla statue in a park. That is pure ageism. I am deeply offended and I demand its removal!Biff Loeder, Dallas  Continue reading...