Letters for April 18, 2023

What the founders meant

Rob Leach made an interesting point in his letter about the Second Amendment (“Stand against tyrants,” April 7). Mr. Leach said that the Founders meant to permit all guns, including those of the government, so all guns of today are permitted.

No, Rob, the Founders created the Second Amendment to address their fear of a standing army. The Founders chose “a well regulated militia” instead.

The Founders would be horrified by the random killing of innocent children by people using assault-style guns. They would have argued (and in fact did) that guns employed by other than a well-regulated militia are not protected by the Second Amendment.

Allan deLaubenfels

Spokane Valley

Officers should learn CRT

The recent resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted the ongoing problem of systemic racism in American society, including within law enforcement. One way to address this problem is to ensure that police officers are trained in critical race theory. CRT is a framework that examines how race and racism intersect with other forms of social identity and how this intersectionality perpetuates systemic inequality. By incorporating CRT into law enforcement training, officers can develop a deeper understanding of the impact of racism on the criminal justice system and learn how to work toward more just outcomes for all members of society.

One of the main benefits of training law enforcement officers in CRT is that it can help them to recognize and challenge their own biases. Many police officers come from privileged backgrounds and may not fully understand the experiences of people from marginalized communities. By learning about the ways in which race and racism intersect with other forms of social identity such as gender, class and sexuality, officers can begin to recognize how their own assumptions and prejudices might influence their actions on the job. This can lead to more empathetic and effective policing that takes into account the unique experiences and perspectives of different groups in society.

Guy Boudreaux

Spokane

It’s time to check big tech

For years, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers has been saying all the things that conservatives like me want to hear when it comes to technology policy and that’s important because you have to be tough to take on big tech. I’m glad we have a leader like CMR as chair of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. But it’s time to move from rhetoric to action.

Big Tech monopolists continues to dominate smaller businesses. Take the mobile app store ecosystem for example. If a small business wants to sell digital goods or services on Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store, they can be charged as much as 30% on every purchase. No other transaction fee even comes close, no matter what sector. In fact, the industry standard is between 3 and 6% . Inevitably, this fee artificially raises prices for consumers. Adding insult to injury, Apple and Google prevent businesses from communicating directly with their customers about pricing, which makes it impossible to warn consumers that they’re paying artificially higher prices through the app store.

The mobile application ecosystem has been broken by two monopolists, Apple and Google, and we need Congress to level the playing field and create a truly free and fair market. We need CMR to support the Open App Markets Act. This bipartisan bill would put an end to the harmful, anticompetitive practices of big tech monopolists, which will help small businesses flourish while lowering prices for consumers.

Tatyana Skripnik

Spokane

Thank you, Coach Few

Gonzaga hasn’t won a national title. You’re right, Mark Roberts (“Gonzaga didn’t make the grade, again,” April 11).

But maybe it’s more important that Coach Few’s players genuinely seem to value the experience he gave them while in Spokane. They return to help recruit new talent. They appear to follow their successor teams closely and root them on via social media. He launches his assistant coaches into impressive head-coaching careers of their own. And he and his wife raise money for charities and donate generously.

I want Gonzaga to win a national title too, because Mark Few deserves one for all that he’s done for his university and this region. But if that doesn’t happen, we should all still thank him for a job well done.

Addy Hatch

Spokane Valley