To the editor:

Let me get this straight.

Because extreme Muslim terrorists have committed violent attacks on our shores, our new president wishes to ban Muslim immigrants and many travelers from select Muslim nations from entering the United States. This is done without care or concern that they are very likely suffering families who are fleeing oppression, hunger, violence and worse, or probably just good people of Muslim faith who have no connection to terrorist activities whatsoever.

Yet though crazed or unstable Americans have committed senseless acts of gun violence against fellow citizens of all ages, races and orientations, this new administration and many members of Congress refuse to support gun control. In their short time at the helm, Republicans have repealed controls and now it is even easier to put guns in the hands of these perpetrators.

This situation seems to have come about largely due to the wealth and power of the NRA and its ability to influence elections. Modern assault weapons could not even have been imagined when the Second Amendment was written. Our candidates seem to be bought with money and fear of losing campaign funding rather than representing the citizens they serve. Do we really believe that every single Republican candidate who is supported by the NRA is truly so heartless as to refuse to legislate in favor of innocent children and families who are victims of homegrown violence in far greater numbers than those from foreign terrorists?

This is a bizarro world indeed! Perhaps the most urgent need of our country for a very long time has been the need for campaign finance reform. Our election season is intolerably long and stressful for our nation. Leaving it in the hands of extreme corporate and personal material wealth is not healthy. The funding should be public and carefully regulated. These policies just might attract greater numbers of exceptional candidates with more desirable types of immeasurable wealth — intelligence, creativity, depth, heart, constitutional understanding and experience.

I grieve for our country.

Jane Jenkins,

Williamstown