I was thunderstruck by some of the comments from white, male concealed-carry gun owners in your Oct. 28 article (“White suburbanites discover guns offer a sense of security in an increasingly scary world”).
One admitted that he had illegally carried a concealed weapon when he was in downtown Akron or in “the hood.” He said he didn’t feel the need for a gun when he was “out in the suburbs.”
I wonder whether he was listening when another suburban man in the focus group found his neighbor’s drug-addicted daughter in his bedroom stuffing her pockets and bag with his belongings.
This second man says he learned a vital lesson about “how useless a locked firearm was, even though it was within less that 10 feet from me.”
Has this man considered the likelihood that the neighbor’s daughter might have found an unlocked gun in his bedroom and used it on him?
All the focus group participants expressed fear and loathing of the city and perceived the suburbs to be safer. Nevertheless, a third participant lived in dread that his suburban home would be broken into because “there’s always a first time.”
Let’s not forget the “neighbor’s drug-addicted daughter” proving that crime can occur in the suburbs.
With these irrational, not to say racist, views, I can see why the focus group wanted anonymity.
I’ve lived for over 30 years in Akron’s Highland Square. I walk my dog twice a day and interact regularly with racially diverse neighbors and strangers.
I’m pleased to know every homeowner on the block by name. Highland Square has its share of crime, but life here is rich with interesting people and rewarding human contact. I wouldn’t trade it for the hunkered-down isolation of the suburbs or the fearfulness of the city described by the focus group panel.
On the street, it’s always smart to be aware of your surroundings (as one of the women participants suggested), but the focus group members all seem to think that carrying a gun will protect them.
A few moments consideration should lead a rational person to conclude that you are safer handing over your wallet to a robber and retreating than pulling a gun, which can be turned on you or can provoke the robber to pull a gun of his own.
Roberta Aber
Akron
Why show Akron such disrespect?
I read the Oct. 27 article about the recent appearance of Patricia Heaton in North Canton to support Mitt Romney (“Romney, Ryan energize crowd.”). I don’t have a problem with her coming back to Ohio to support Romney, but what’s the deal with her disrespecting Akron?
I thought all of us Ohioans are supposed to stick together and support each other. Heaton said at the rally: “I was born on the west side of Cleveland. You know what Cleveland’s motto is: At least we’re not Akron.”
Really? Since she’s from the greater metropolitan Cleveland area (born and raised in Bay Village), I wonder how she feels when people who were not born or raised in Cleveland make jokes or tear the city to shreds.
Yet, she went on to ridicule Akron on stage in North Canton. You know who gets to criticize Akron? Those who were born and raised here.
We get to take shots at the city — and take offense at outsiders who criticize Akron. I dare her, no double-dare her, to come to an event in Akron and make that comment on stage.
I bet she would think twice before she would say it. But that’s not going to happen; she doesn’t have the heart to do it. Don’t get me wrong, I respect Heaton and her Emmy Award-winning work on Everybody Loves Raymond and now on The Middle, but she was totally out of line coming back to Northeast Ohio and taking a shot at our city.
Scott Lockett
Akron
