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Meaningful gun legislation will help boost tourism

Re: Tourism turnaround mixed, Aug. 8

Does our consistently high crime rate affect tourism? Florida is one of the few states that has armed guards at all rest stops and has required that rental cars have license plates that do not identify the car as a rental driven by a vulnerable tourist. I don't know of any other state that has had to go to such extremes to protect this valuable source of state income.

What's the reason for the high crime rate in Florida? The state's failure to control firearms. In the past 10 years the state has embarked on a comprehensive program of treating the symptoms of crime, but not the cause. The state has passed several tough-on-crime laws: Criminals must serve 85 percent of their sentences; three strikes; 10/20/Life and others. But crime continues to increase, not decrease, in Florida. Since 1988, not a single piece of legislation was enacted to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands or to take the illegal guns off our streets.

Everyone in my community knows the tourist industry and businesses cringe at the idea of going public with this problem. It's bad for business.

Arthur C. Hayhoe, Wesley Chapel

Executive director, Florida Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Inc.

Life insurance settlement offers an opportunity

Re: Beware if buyer is betting on your death, column, Aug. 6

We read with interest the Helen Huntley column but a better headline might well be "Beware your relatives who have insurance on your life." Close relatives eliminate their loved ones many times each year for the insurance money. In the life insurance policy settlement industry, no such incident has occurred. Nor is it realistic to imagine that the dozen licensed Florida entities, or the major international financial institutions who back them in buying such policies, are plotting in the back room on how to set up hits. They spend time worrying about compliance with the insurance and securities laws.

The article itself made a wonderful point. Huntley got a spokesman for the insurance industry to publicly admit his big fear: that people would not lapse or surrender their policies for pitiful dollars, but sell them for their real value in the secondary settlement market. He said that might bring a change in the pricing of life insurance to account for the fact that the public got a greater share of the value. Settlement activity is disturbing to some insurers because it is an opportunity, not a danger, for consumers.

Doug Head, Orlando

Executive director, Life Insurance Settlement Association

People will use mass transit if it is convenient

Re: Rail system a road less traveled, column, Aug. 7

I am a native of the bay area who moved to Switzerland in 1987. I follow local events in the Times online edition so I can participate by voting since I maintain my Clearwater residency. I was pleased to read your article advocating mass transit as a viable and even necessary development in order to provide better travel opportunities in the bay area.

I am fortunate to live in a country with a wonderfully developed mass transit system. Yes, we own a car, but I travel from a small town outside of Zurich to Zurich each day to work. And I travel by train. I could claim that I do so purely for environmental reasons, but that would not be entirely true. Travel by mass transit here is a very efficient and cost-effective way to get around. I do not have the stress of congested traffic and the huge expense of parking in town. I use my travel time to read, plan my day and sometimes just to visit with other people.

The system here in Switzerland is very advanced and easy to use. I can book train tickets online and print my ticket at home. I can even order tickets via my cell phone and have the ticket sent to my phone, which is then scanned by the train personnel.

A key aspect to acceptance of mass transit in the bay area would be that it must be convenient and easy to use. The business sector can add its support by subsidizing employees who use mass transit and arrange for employee discounts. An important aspect in building public support for mass transit is that people must not feel that they are sacrificing their personal freedom of travel but rather are enhancing their freedom to travel in an efficient and pleasant manner.

Mary Boller, Egg bei Zurich, Switzerland

Is $8-a-gallon gas needed to help transportation?

Re: Rail system a road less traveled, column, Aug. 7

It seems as if many decisionmakers regarding this issue have not been out of the Tampa Bay area, a city (not a town anymore) that desires economic growth and is taking on new residents at rapid rates. Have they not been to Europe, where most successful cities have wonderful public transportation? Of course they pay $8 a gallon there for fuel. Will it take that for people to wake up?

My vote for the train system over the past few years seems to have meant nothing and I am feeling helpless in these issues that deeply affect the city I was born and raised in. I would like to become far more active in the community and would enjoy a channel or vessel in which my ideas could be heard.

Clearly it is not easy to make a light rail system happen. But neither is a $50-million-per-mile beltway.

Jeff Curtis, Tampa

We need more reliable transportation alternatives

Re: Rail system a road less traveled, column, Aug. 7

I was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area, and my first experience overseas was to the city of Munich in Germany. The difference in public transportation was night and day. I would be one of the first to support this undertaking in the Tampa Bay area. However, it would only be a solitary step in the right direction.

The other public transportation system, which we have in place but lacks the reliability or capacity of similar systems in Europe, is our bus system. I think we simply need more - and more reliable - transportation alternatives.

Ken Mortimer, Dunedin

Concrete and asphalt aren't the answer

Re: Rail system a road less traveled, column, Aug. 7

Why do our elected officials see concrete and asphalt as the answer to all of our transportation problems? Pasco County, where I live, is still growing and the few highways that we have are inadequate for our needs. What is lacking is leadership from government. How sad that too few have any vision about what our future should be.

D.G. Murray, New Port Richey

Trains do little good if they don't run on time

Re: Rail system a road less traveled, column, Aug. 7

I read about Gov. Jeb Bush marking $491-million for a deal with CSX. I hope that this system has better luck than the passengers using Amtrak lines. The Amtrak system uses those same tracks from the north to points here in Florida. Speaking from experience, this train has on several occasions been six to 12 hours late. This includes the auto-train out of Sanford. Neither system is ever on time. The CSX freight trains have the right of way and it is nothing for the passenger train to sit a hour or more on the side track waiting for the freight train to go past. I certainly hope as a resident of Florida that Bush makes sure that this train will be on time for all commuters.

Mrs. James McConnell, Palm Harbor

Politicians work too slowly on public transportation

Re: Rail system a road less traveled, column, Aug. 7

Why have Florida politicians been so slow to accept public transportation, especially rail, as a valid alternative? I remember one of Jeb Bush's first acts as governor was to veto the rail bill that the Legislature had passed. Now we are eight years further down the road and no rail lines are in sight for our area. Hurrah for Orlando for having better vision than we do.

M.A. McLachlan, Clearwater

Be thankful that gas prices are cheap here

Re: Cash Guzzler, Aug. 9

The last week of July, I was on Long Island in New York. The gas prices there were more than $3.50 for premium. Cars were filling up to the limit of $50. But was there a lack of cars on the road? Not at all. Were the gas stations empty? Nope, there was no line but no lack of cars waiting. And we didn't have to pump the gas ourselves.

Just thought you might like to know. Sure makes us feel better about paying the $3.15 a gallon here for premium.

Nedda Honig, Palm Harbor

[Last modified August 12, 2006, 20:37:35]