‘Anti-Immigrant’ Label Unfair
A recent front-page article about an ADL report has some serious misstatements (“ADL Report: Anti-Immigrant Views Have Become Mainstream,” Dec. 27). The article quotes the report as saying, “More towns and cities need to adopt ‘sanctuary’ or ‘welcoming’ polices, as has been done in Philadelphia.” This is a gross mischaracterization: “Sanctuary cities” (and states) are sanctuaries for criminal illegal immigrants; they are not welcoming for immigrants. Just ask the immigrant family of the policeman who was allegedly murdered in California by a criminal illegal immigrant who was given sanctuary by the state.
It is also unfair, though commonplace, to call President Trump “anti-immigrant,” as the ADL does. He is anti-illegal immigrant but pro-legal immigrant, as he says in almost every speech on the subject. He welcomes people who want to come here legally and contribute to American society.
Readers of the Exponent are almost all descendants of legal, not illegal immigrants. I myself am a legal immigrant and support the president’s position.
Morris Olitsky | Havertown
In Rush to Arm, Remember Danger
I was disappointed that a recent article about gun enthusiasts did not cover the substantial risks to household members of having a gun in the home (“Gun Range Event Teaches Firearm Usage,” Dec. 20).
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, a gun in the home is 43 times more likely to be used to kill a friend or family member than a burglar or other criminal. Two million U.S. children live in homes with guns that are not stored safely (locked in a gun safe, with ammunition stored safely) and at least 285 of those children accidently shot themselves or someone else in 2017. The risk of dying by suicide is four to 10 times higher in homes with guns.
A gun in the home puts women at risk for being intimidated or murdered by intimate partners. Guns in the home are seldom successfully used in self-defense against attacks by strangers.
We are taught to build a parapet on the roof of a new house, to avoid the risk of bloodshed in case someone falls (Deuteronomy 2:28). The Talmud teaches that obligation extends to avoiding other home dangers: an uncovered pit, a vicious dog, an unsafe ladder. Keeping a gun in the house is yet another danger that needs to be considered.
Fran Stier | Swarthmore
