As the recently departed movie critic Roger Ebert would have said, "Two thumbs up" for our state Rep. Diana Urban who voted in favor of the bipartisan "Gun Violence Prevention and Children's Safety Act." But brickbats to Sen. Andrew Maynard, one of only two Democrats in the entire Senate to vote against passage.

As the headline in The Day's column by Paul Choiniere, read, "Maynard's gun vote sure looked political," (April 5), suggesting Maynard assumed a negative vote would do him no long-term harm locally in the next election whereas it might actually increase his support in the northern portion of his district.

Early this year, Maynard was appointed to the special bipartisan legislative committee to look at "gun, mental health and school security changes," the same committee that subsequently drafted the bill. Maynard must know that bipartisan bills are a compromise and that neither party comes away entirely happy. But to use the excuse that the process was "flawed" seems to be politics at its worst.

We deeply regret that Maynard used the limp excuse of a "flawed process" rather than recognizing the importance of the content of the bill given the horrors of Newtown.