The spate of school shootings, mass murders, and senseless killings has resurrected an old debate: Do we need more gun control in a nation where guns appear out of control, or is gun control itself about to spin out of control?

Whichever is the case, President Obama is leading the charge against firearms. He plans to make gun control a “central issue” in his second term. Within weeks, the president will present Congress with sweeping proposals for additional regulations on firearms.

The task is formidable. There are some 200 million guns in the U.S. With almost two guns per household every house is like an armed camp. Clearly, there is an excess number of guns. Reducing their number will reduce the number of people injured by them; less guns, less people injured. Simple.

But the association between school violence and guns is a two-sided problem. The abundance of guns is only one side of the problem. It could be argued that as the number of schools have increased, so has school related crime. Ergo, less schools equals less school shootings. But restricting guns makes a better case.

Yet there are other weapons that need to be controlled even more than guns. One, is as innocuous as it is invidious: the spoon.

There is an undeniable correlation between spoons and overeating; as the number of spoons have increased over the years so has obesity. And ingesting excess calories is associated with a laundry list of diseases: diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer; the list goes on and on. Less spoons will make this a healthier nation.

Surprisingly, spoons are entirely unregulated. We even lack reliable statistics on the number of these overused utensils. But estimating 15 spoons per household gives a ballpark number of 1.8 million. If one includes commercial eating establishments, the number soars to 4 million and this includes only metal spoons. This dwarfs the number of guns and shows the magnitude of the problem with spoons.

The fact is, like guns, there are far too many spoons; we just don’t need that many. Legislation must be drafted to restrict the number of spoons per household and thus reduce the overeating they cause.

Another instrument of mass mortality is the automobile. The number of deaths and injuries caused by autos has increased with their numbers. Currently, there are 300 million cars. That’s almost one for every person in the U.S.

The death toll from cars far exceeds that caused by guns but doesn’t come close to spoons. Nevertheless, something should be done to reduce the number of automobiles and thus decrease the number of car-caused deaths. If these vehicles could be completely eliminated, there would not be any deaths and injuries caused by them. But this is neither possible nor practical.

The only solution appears to be oversight by a federal agency to scrutinize every application for car ownership. The number of automobiles, like guns and spoons, should be tightly controlled by the federal government.

The list here presented of potentially injurious items statistically linked to violence and harm is short. However, it can be easily augmented by other products that go hand-in-hand with assults: knives, baseball bats, and bricks come to mind. The solution to the problem is daunting but doable.

The president is making a beginning with guns. Spoons, automobiles, knives, baseball bats, bricks and such can be addressed later.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA

As the parent of a disabled child with a Primary Immune Disease having a trusted set of physicians is a necessity. Travelling to CHOP in Philadelphia to see my sons immunologist and other specialists is commonplace for us. We know we’re fortunate to have such a wonderful children’s hospital so near but that often pales in comparison to the peace of mind I’ve had knowing that with little more than a phone call my son could be seen locally with an understood urgency for the need of our visit. Throughout his sixteen years I have chosen my son’s primary care physicians with great deliberation, always assessing the quality of treatment and ease of the visit with little thought to the bureaucracy and red tape that always seems to go hand in hand with any medical practice- private or otherwise. Living in our rural community it wasn’t always easy and I thought I had been blessed beyond belief when we found the Barnes Kasson/NEPA Community Healthcare Clinic.

I recently found out the clinic has changed hands with little fanfare, except as a parent (and also a patient) the change in the air is palpable. Gone are the days of recognizing the reassuring voice on the other end of the line and gone is the security in knowing a trusted physician is only a phone call away. Something as simple as a call for an appointment, an 11 day wait for phoned in prescription refills plus the three resulting wasted trips to the local pharmacy left me struggling in wonderment in exactly what is going on!?

Honestly, the confusion encountered is disconcerting. Being told without warning that our primary physician, Frank DeJesse, is on a permanent “extended leave” is VERY troublesome ,then that other’s in the practice have now left certainly makes one take pause. To add insult to injury, hearing the news from a flippant receptionist, coupled with that a visit may take weeks to reschedule plus the fact that medications aren’t being refilled in a timely manner is not only shocking but totally unacceptable. The rest of the poor staff are doing their best to smooth things over but seem to be at a loss for an explanation and the underlying paranoia over what may happen next is unsettling to experience.

For me, the importance of an efficiently run rural medical center cannot be stressed enough. Although I travel all over Pennsylvania and into New York for my son I also depend greatly on the local clinic for his care. Statistically it’s proven that local medical offices will often provide the only avenue of treatment that many rural patients will ever seek. A trusted clinic and a cohesive team of physicians sparks a sense of pride within a community and also a great feeling of gratitude when it’s not only your doctor that’s making a positive impact on your life, but each and every person you deal with in conjunction to a visit.

It seems like yesterday that the clinic broke away from Barnes Kasson Hospital so it’s hard to believe it has been almost 5 years. The NEPA clinic has felt like home for us and honestly, I’m scared of what the impact of lost providers, new guidelines and debt incurred will mean for both my family and my community. It is my understanding that at NEPA Community Healthcare there is now a new clinical program set up to direct foreign medical residents through the office so they can experience “Family Practice” -and I commend them for that- but as the clinic struggles to re-invent its identity I can only hope that the focus on “family” is not lost in the transition.

Sincerely,

Aimee Randall

New Milford, PA

The fiscal milk cliff is such a scheme. I am about maddened by the whole idea that you are supposed to care what the farmers think! I have come to the conclusion that the whole up roar is just to get the consumers to call their congressmen to make them at least do something, pass some sort of farm bill.

The thing that gets me is the dairy farmers are locked into a vicious cycle of being represented by people who are supposed to be trusted employees of the farmers.

However, not all dairy farmers are co-op members yet the price that they get for milk is locked into the whole scheme in Washington and thus have to get the low milk price set. You probably don’t get it. huh.

 Let me put it this way, can you honestly believe that all dairy farmers are happy and accepting of a price for their milk? The same or less than they were getting paid 25 years ago. Can you as an intelligent person believe that?

You need to dig down deep into the whole inner realm of the reason the dairy farmers are where they are, and why less than half of them still exist.

As I read through the article in saturday’s paper it hit me like a brick, no one cares. No one cares if the local dairy farmer is or stays in business.

I also have come to the conclusion that any politician learns quickly how to talk to you about the dairy issue. I can’t wait for that new congressman to get in his new office so i can have at him.

There is no politician who will stick their neck out far enough to make any difference to the local dairy farmers, or how much they get paid for a pound of milk and they sure don’t care enough to try.

And they surely, as long as they are alive will never give any suggestion to the farmers how they could correct and claim their just deserves. The money is made in the market place for the existing dairy farmers to live happily, however there is no way that they can make the processor give them the money they will never be able to,and the processors know it. No one ever finishes the investigation. Ask our old attorney general, he came up with the conclusion that it was a he-said, she-said situation.     

Sincerely,

Peter A Seman

Thompson, PA