We need to call things what they are

I've been troubled by how the terms illegal and undocumented have been interchanged recently in news stories.

It seems as if the term illegal is only used when someone legal commits an illegal act, but if a man in America illegally commits a crime with an illegal gun, the headline reads "an undocumented man murdered someone with an illegal gun."

Shouldn't that read "an undocumented man murdered someone with an undocumented gun"?

Having said that, doesn't that become a double negative, making the act "a documented man murdered someone with a documented gun"?

When a country, state or city will not enforce its laws, you have anarchy. Such is the case of Kate Steinle being shot and murdered by an illegal immigrant with an illegal gun. He had been convicted of five felonies in the past and deported four times only to have it happen again within San Francisco.

Being a sanctuary city, the city officials felt no responsibility to inform federal immigration officials. This crime is a shared responsibility of Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez, the accused murderer, and the San Francisco authorities as accomplices.

If we do not have the courage to call things what they are, then why should anyone obey laws? It starts right there.

Shirley Francke

Bartlett