Bonita Todd (Letters, Jan. 28) seems to think mentally ill people make the choice to kill and insinuates that we should focus on the "illness."

She also apparently thinks this country is overdiagnosing mental disorders and people use them as a crutch. It's hard to deal with the "mentally ill" when you don't believe in mental illness.

The government is not taking our guns away. However, reasonable laws diminish the ability of "mentally ill" to get them.

"The government has taken God out of our schools," Todd complained. The Founding Fathers chose a separation of church and state because people in this country have different faiths. I teach my children about God. They go to school to learn academics.

Todd's claim that in school we never tell children they are wrong because of the risk of hurting their feelings is inaccurate. I work in the schools and know several teachers. When children misbehave, they are corrected. I teach my children obedience; the school teaches them academics.

During this time in our country, people need to speak honestly about the issues, come together in truth and find real, honest solutions. The fighting and partisan politics is fueled by false propaganda.

RYAN ANTOS, Benton City