Letter: Action is required to minimize damage

In a hospital room a couple of older men were discussing frustrations about the politics and legalities involved in land ownership transfers. Finally, one of the men stated, 'We are lucky we are about done now and that we lived most of our lives in more reasonable times.” The words 'more reasonable times” are especially poignant. Nowadays words like reasonable do not seem to describe what many conservatives hope to accomplish.

Mass shootings have become so common in this country that cable news coverage of these events is so formalized and scripted that only the location needs to be changed. Still, any attempt to limit public access to even the most deadly weapons meets with unwavering conservative opposition. Is this reasonable?

Extreme weather events, almost certainly caused by global warming, are all too common. Even in light of scientific consensus that global warming may cause irreparable damage to our planet, many conservatives resist any attempt to limit the burning the fossil fuels that are its cause. Is this reasonable?

I wonder how many conservatives who oppose gun control and steps to reduce global warming would be willing to wager their own money that mass shootings and extreme weather events associated with the warming of the atmosphere will simply cease in the near future with no action required? At some level, we all know that these events will continue unabated unless something is done.

Robert J. Boes

Ely