Sound Off: January 30, 2026
Sun Herald readers weigh in on local and national topics.
I’m confused
I am not a gun owner. Owning a gun is necessary sometimes, mainly for hunting and self-defense. I’ve seen guns being carried by protestors at every rally. Some are concealed and some carried openly. Why is it not OK when groups you don’t support have them? Are you now advocating gun control? The only reason I see for carrying a gun is to protest myself from others who may use it to kill me.
Second Amendment
So now the Democrats support the Second Amendment? Excellent.
No guns
I cannot believe my ears. President Trump said that people should not go around carrying guns because bad things can happen. He was referring to Alex Pretti. Aren’t Republicans the ones who demanded their Second Amendment rights to carry guns everywhere for their own safety? Republicans, please explain.
Virginia governor
The new governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, largely concealed her true political ideology during her campaign. But she has instantly begun to reveal her true identity as an uber-leftist. She immediately reinforced Virginia’s intent to not cooperate in federal immigration enforcement in any fashion, thus making it easier for unlawful, criminal non-citizens to not only remain in the country but prey on unsuspecting citizens. Furthermore, both branches of their state legislature, which are Democrat controlled, are considering state law to reduce minimum sentencing for rape, manslaughter and child pornography. Do Democrats feel that harsh sentencing for such criminals is mean? Do they think those particular crimes and offenders can be “rehabilitated”? Will such sentence reductions result in a safer Virginia?
Threatening Iran
President Trump is moving naval forces towards Iran and making threats on his social media. What is going on? We didn’t elect this man to act on his personal whims, using our military to unilaterally decide what our country is going to do with the lives of our American sailors and soldiers. He needs constitutional and congressional approval. And this from a man who dodged the Vietnam draft with questionable bone spurs diagnosed by his father’s doctor.
TikTok censorship
Big business is trying to alter the internet reality. After the ownership change to a business consortium headed by Trump ally Larry Ellison, the word “Epstein” is now being censored on the TikTok platform. Users have started calling it “MagaTok”.
Keep him out
Bill Belichick presided over not one, but two cheating scandals and should have been banned for life from the NFL and ineligible for the Hall of Fame. The thing about it is we will never know if all his wins were due to great coaching or great cheating.
Send your Sound Offs to soundoff@sunherald.com.