Letters to the Editor
Matthew Trimble
The larger fallacy John Thompson (Commentary, “The fallacy of test-driven school reform, Jan. 16, Oklahoma Gazette) fails to recognize is the fallacy of centrally planned and administered education. MAPS for Kids has been a total failure, as schools are not buildings. The only obvious beneficiaries are the government contractors who built the buildings.

Letters to the Editor
Thomas Baines
I have spent much of the last 75 years in both military and civilian service under arms. I was born and grew up in rural Oklahoma, where I learned that firearms were tools, not toys or status symbols.

Letters to the Editor
Douglas Mock, Joseph Thai and Tom Boyd
Two “new” bills filed with the state Legislature recently are dog-eared twin parcels of anti-science boilerplate based on model language from the creationist Discovery Institute (in Seattle). This is an annual rite of winter: Legislative sponsors proclaim laudable goals (“academic freedom” and “critical thinking”) with a wink and nod that fool no one except perhaps innocent schoolchildren. The goal is to promote the teaching of religion as science in public school science classrooms.

Letters to the Editor
Jackie Gaston
Increasing access to guns as the solution of gun violence makes as much sense as doubling up on doughnuts to lose weight. Not gonna happen. Why not try responsible gun control including a bipartisan deal with state and local governments to buy back semiautomatic weapons? That’s what Australia did in 1996 after a gunman killed 35 tourists and wounded 23 more. Their buyback covered about one-fifth of all firearms in Australia, including more than 600,000 semiautomatic shotguns and rifles.

Letters to the Editor
Bob Hanlin
Thank you for publishing Robin Meyers’ commentary (”Loving our guns to death,” Dec. 19, 2012, Oklahoma Gazette) on the gun debate.

Letters to the Editor
Vance Armor
In the wake of the Newtown, Conn., massacre, progressives are emboldened by the prospect that public opinion may shift toward their policies favoring citizen disarmament. Robin Meyers’ op-ed in Oklahoma Gazette is a fine crystallization of sentiments held by those who favor a certain kind of disarmament policy — but not a general disarmament policy. Rev. Meyers laments “[a] gun-loving, gun-saturated, gun-worshipping culture.”

Letters to the Editor
Jamie Burnette
A big, heartfelt, thank-you goes to Bill Bleakley for his commentary, “Hey, Legislature, nothing’s happening here!” (Dec. 11, 2012, Oklahoma Gazette) His words echoed those of many of us who have been banging our heads against the proverbial brick wall as we watch the decline of our schools.

Letters to the Editor
Wanda Jo Stapleton
Gov. Mary Fallin’s ruthless refusal to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income Oklahomans is typical of the way her past political actions have harmed Oklahomans.

Letters to the Editor
David Hull
Amid of the horror in Connecticut, many fellow Christians likely will want to take up the counterpoint to the media’s discussions about guns and other perceived conservative Christian stereotypical debasements. Please don’t take the bait.

Letters to the Editor
John D. Carlson
Sincere thanks to Ben Fenwick and the entire staff and management of Oklahoma Gazette for the recent article, “Twilight’s last gleaming” (News, Dec. 5).

Letters to the Editor
Nathaniel Batchelder
In 2000, George Bush took the White House with 48 percent of the popular vote and 271 electoral votes. He cut taxes and waged war on Iraq.

Letters to the Editor
Ron Ferrell
In response to Mike Brake’s Nov. 21 Oklahoma Gazette commentary, the headline, “Oklahoma’s postelection rise,” is quite accurate. In my opinion, the rise started long ago, and Oklahoma is now proudly known as the reddest state in America. I would say the social dynamics of the Old South that many states have worked hard to eviscerate from their history are now proudly resurrected in Oklahoma.

Letters to the Editor
Jon Trushenski
Holding up California as an example of a failed state government is a mistake. Yes, there is outmigration from California, but their population density is still 241 people per square mile; Oklahoma’s is 55 So as bad as Mike Brake (Commentary, “Oklahoma’s postelection rise,” Nov. 21, Oklahoma Gazette) claims Californians have it, multitudes more are staying than are leaving. California private-sector employment has averaged over 20,000 new jobs per month since 2010; Oklahoma has managed about 3,000 per month over the same period. Californians voted to raise their own taxes this year, very likely for the same reason that MAPS was approved by the citizens of Oklahoma City three times — they were smart enough to recognize that the government needs to do some things that the private sector can’t or won’t do, especially in the area of social safety nets and quality-of-life improvements.

Letters to the Editor
Todd Fagin
While it is certainly nice to see someone invoke actual science in the discussion of climate change, much of what Mike Brake wrote (Letters, “Rational on climate change,” Oct. 17, Oklahoma Gazette) deserves further scrutiny. In short, discussions of the Medieval Warm Period (which was a regional, not global, phenomenon), solar variations and Milankovitch cycles are merely red herrings used to deflect focus from the uncomfortable, yet undeniable, evidence supporting anthropogenic climate-forcing.

Letters to the Editor
Merle D. Wright
In response to the Nov. 21 commentary by Robin Meyers (”The land of Bibles and bigots,” Oklahoma Gazette):