Keep our local police independent

I was very concerned with the Department of Justice investigation of our Seattle Police Department, regarding it as a usurpation of local/state powers [“Police talks go to mediation,” page one, June 22].

Now comes a more serious usurpation: the plan to allow the federal prosecution of gun crimes committed in Seattle. This outrageous federal incursion into what plainly is a local issue is a dangerous precedent and is completely unconstitutional.

The excuse for condoning this federal takeover of our local police is that our legislators have refused to pass tougher state laws. The answer is not surrendering local power to the federal government, but for our legislators to fulfill their obligation to protect citizens with tougher laws regarding gun crime.

We should not encourage or allow this move to create a federal police force — we need to support our local police and keep them independent.

— H. E. Bud Shasteen, Seattle

Tax the bullets

Guns don’t kill people, bullets do.

Why aren’t bullets taxed at the same rate as cigarettes and booze? If bullets cost $10 each, maybe the thugs would not be so interested in sharing them with us innocent bystanders.

— Thomas Wise, Seattle