Review: The real mystery of "Law Abiding Citizen" isn't how Gerard Butler's character manages to wreak explosive, bloody havoc on Philadelphia while confined behind the walls of his jail cell.

Hakim Benmoussa of Scottsdale fulfilled his dream Sunday to become a United States citizen.

Being a cop can be tough, unpleasant and dangerous. For some people, the police uniform triggers an irrational loathing, a knee-jerk rejection of authority.

April 15, 2005

State Rep. David Burnell Smith and the Citizens Clean Elections Commission appear headed to a legal showdown that could have sweeping implications for the future of publicly financed political campaigns.

A Gilbert residents committee on Monday turned in signatures for a referendum opposing a town water ordinance — a day before the Town Council plans to reconsider the ordinance.

A Gilbert residents committee on Monday turned in signatures for a referendum opposing a town water ordinance — a day before the Town Council plans to reconsider the ordinance.

I’m surprised at the American people. After 9/11, everyone screamed racial profiling of Middle Easteners at airports; it wasn’t the Irish who did this. This resulted in creating Homeland Security and tighter security at airports and port of entries. We citizens get X-rayed, strip-searched in some cases and are only allowed to carry a certain amount of liquids waiting to board the plane in the name of a safe country.

As the Arizona Legislature joins other states in toughening immigration policy, I swear I can hear a giant yawn from the citizenry. Will even one more law make a difference in regards to our immigration boondoggle?

The Arizona Cardinals decided not to sign veteran free agent defensive end Marco Coleman before the first game of the season. His skills had diminished enough that the team didn’t want to guarantee his salary.

The rulling by Vicki Miles-LeGrange, a federal judge in Oklahoma who has rescinded the vote by 70 percent of Oklahoma voters to ban Sharia law in that state, should be a wake-up call to all Americans. 

By the very nature of their work — to protect the innocent from those bent on harm — police officers must sometimes use deadly force. And when a suspect lies dead in the aftermath, it is also the nature of police work to be second-guessed: Did the suspect really pose a deadly threat? Could police have avoided bloodshed?

I am writing about the not-so-thoughtful letter from gun (lover) Arthur C. Peterson: “What kind of country do you want?” I’d like to live in a country where so-called law-abiding citizens do not have access to weapons of war like AK 47’s that are designed to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. I also certainly don’t want to live in a country where citizens are allowed to possess chemical or biological weapons like Peterson advocated.

While government has no business unnecessarily or unreasonably restricting law-abiding citizens' constitutional right to bear arms, it shouldn't be weakening or erasing laws that help the cops nail armed bad guys.

The national dialogue is misleading. To have a “meaningful discussion” we must identify the issue correctly.

We citizens of Arizona should honor Gov. Jan Brewer for standing up for what is right for our great state. She is only asking citizens and law enforcement agencies to do what our federal government fails to do. Just uphold the law. We don’t care about votes, we are not being discriminatory, we just care about our state’s rights and laws, and stop these people from taking advantage of the benefits that my ancestors worked so hard for.

“Is there any other nation in the World whose president has sued one of his states to force them to allow illegal alien immigration? Only in America and only with a Democrat president in office.”

The recent slaughter at the grade school in Connecticut is an unimaginable tragedy that could never have been predicted.

“What scares me about the Tucson shooting is that if gun control advocates have their way the only people possessing guns will be criminals and the Jared Loughners of the world. There is no need to control guns in the hands of responsible citizens.”

“To one who vents: ‘Why do law abiding citizens need assault rifles?’ As long as police forces and governments worldwide use tools like this to impose laws and policies, I will support a citizen’s right to carry those same tools to protect themselves. The 2nd Amendment has been protecting citizens from criminals and tyrants since Dec. 15, 1791. The 2nd Amendment is not for hunting …”

In response to Edward Murphy's Jan. 21 letter concerning those who carry a concealed weapon: Instead of dealing with facts and statistics, Murphy would rather propagate his personal delusions by spreading inaccurate, emotionally-charged accusations. He states that 99.9 percent of those who carry concealed weapons are paranoid, sick individuals who thrive on the possibility of becoming a hero. I don't know how Murphy knows so much about people who carry concealed weapons, but the simple truth is: The great majority of people who carry a gun hope they never, ever have to use it to defend themselves. They are peaceful citizens who believe it is not unethical to protect themselves, rather than Murphy's distorted view that would result in more helpless victims on the evening news.

second amendment