It’s the alienation that matters
In America the idea of the hired professional political assassin makes for action movies and hate speech. Russia uses professional assassins. So does Israel. In the U.S. the involvement of shadowy entities that hire assassins has been near impossible to prove.
Modern perpetrators of political and mass violence have been individual white males, mostly young, whose minds get messed up — increasingly via the internet. Almost always these young men experience alienation from family, friends and institutions that otherwise could provide a guardrail against their sinking into an alternative dark reality. These men become obsessed with overcoming their alienation through the power of violence. Whether their life-views have been warped to the extreme right or left is actually secondary to the overall alienation-revenge drive in them. As we sadly know, the focus of violence for these individuals might be innocent crowds as well as political targets. These perpetrators are not professionally trained and hired hitmen — no matter what conspiratorial thinkers say.
It is time to counter the public health crisis of too many messed over, violence-prone individuals by actions like these, at the least. 1. Massive, modern mental health services for the young need warp-speed introduction. 2. Individuals cannot drink or smoke until they are 21; they should not own guns either. 3. Bump-stocks, large magazines, and ghost guns should be prohibited. 4. Background checks for all gun transactions and stronger red-flag laws are needed. 5. For adults to own assault-style weapons, special permits should be required. 6. Political rabble-rousers need to chill, and political intrusiveness needs to stop.
Dan Gartrell, St. Paul
Addressing shooting problems isn’t an either/or
It has been four weeks since the Annunciation Church and School shootings and over three months since the murder of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband. Stories by victims, parents, families, physicians involved in the care of the victims as well as major medical groups have been shared widely. Tears have been shed. Children and the Hortmans have been buried.
Elected officials have talked – but nothing has happened, and according to the article in the Sept. 25 Pioneer Press (“Gov. Walz: GOP won’t budge on gun control; House speaker calls it ‘mischaracterization’“), it is unlikely anything will happen in the near future. This has been the pattern in our country for over two decades. Think about Columbine and Sandy Hook and Parkland. Let us also not forget all those who die by firearm suicide each year and the children who die by accidentally firing a gun they got access to in their home or at a friend’s home.
Our legislators seem to be caught in an “either/or” situation when it comes to what to do next. One side is pushing to ban assault style weapons and high capacity magazines in addition to stronger safe storage laws (all of which have been shown to decrease mass shooting deaths as well as unintentional shootings and suicides in states with these laws) while the other side is pushing for more mental health services and school safety officers (SSOs).
Let’s be clear – we can do what BOTH sides are pushing for, it doesn’t have to be a partisan issue. The time to talk is over. It is time to act and pass some laws to prevent further events like the ones that have already happened.
Sheldon Berkowitz, St. Paul
New leadership to rebuild trust
As a Minnesota resident, parent of two young boys in public school, and someone who works in local government, I believe deeply in the role government can and should play in building strong, equitable communities. That’s why it’s so disheartening to see repeated failures of oversight under Governor Tim Walz’s administration — and why I believe he should not seek a third term.
Minnesota has seen a troubling pattern of large-scale fraud in recent years: the Feeding Our Future scandal, misuse of housing stabilization funds, and now widespread fraud in autism therapy billing. These are not isolated incidents. They reflect a breakdown in accountability that has allowed public dollars — meant to serve vulnerable Minnesotans — to be stolen.
This isn’t just about mismanagement. It’s about broken trust. And for those of us who believe in the power of government to do good, that broken trust is devastating.
I live in Minneapolis, where the consequences of these failures are visible every day — in the lack of affordable childcare, in public safety concerns near transit and downtown, and in the struggle to build vibrant neighborhoods supported by small businesses.
Governor Walz has led through historic challenges, and he deserves credit for that. But leadership also means knowing when to step aside. If he runs again, I fear he will not only lose, but damage the credibility of pragmatic progressives working to restore faith in public institutions.
Minnesota needs new leadership — leadership that can rebuild trust, enforce accountability, and deliver results. For the sake of our state’s future, I respectfully urge Governor Walz to step aside.
Katie Henly, Minneapolis
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Some causes for farmers’ stress
A letter in Thursday’s Pioneer Press compliments the recent Farm Aid concert. I agree that farmers are under a lot of stress, however, I can’t offer much sympathy. Farmers face challenges because of severe weather. The Republican Party says that climate change is a hoax. Four of the congressional districts in Minnesota are represented by Republicans. these are largely rural/farm communities. Because of one man, tariffs and reciprocal tariffs are impacting the markets for the farmer’s produce. Thousands of traditional farm workers have been deported without any due process. If you are a farmer in your 50s or 60s, how do the DOGE cuts to Medicare affect you?
Republican legislatures around the country are scrambling to illegally gerrymander congressional districts to carve up Democratic cities and suburbs to add more rural/farm voters. If farmers continue to vote against their own interests, I will have little interest in their complaints.
Tom Leary, Mendota Heights
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