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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2018)
Wednesday, April 18, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon LETTERS Continued from page 2 firefighting from state and federal government offi- cials, but no support when fire potential is identified. I’m disappointed. We are encouraged to take action to prevent fires around our homes and com- munity since the firefighters can’t do it all. Clearly, in this instance there is no support. I hope we don’t have another year of lost revenue by our local busi- nesses, evacuations of homeowners, and the poor air quality. With fire season quickly approaching, it is a BIG concern. Vivian Buelt s s s To the Editor: Sisters schools are the pride of our town. We support the renewal of the local option school levy. The levy has been in place since 2000. Still, Sisters residents are paying the lowest total educational tax and are the best district in Central Oregon. Our school has the highest graduation rates in Central Oregon. The local option provides salaries for 12 teachers and maintains our low class sizes. What better investment could the community make than to support our youth receiving an out- standing education? Please join us in voting YES to renew the local option, Measure 9-121. Jim & Debbie Barnes s s s To the Editor: I heard for eight years that Obama was going to take our guns. Never happened. In 1994, President Clinton banned assault rifles, and our country did not collapse. The idea that stricter controls and bet- ter, more thorough background checks, along with the removal of military-grade weaponry, will not destroy our nation. You are not allowed to have grenades, claymore mines, or LAW rockets. I also don’t hear anyone complaining about the restrictions on magazines and rounds for hunting in this state. I am tired of hearing the notion of the “good guy with a gun” argument. The Violence Policy Center, in 2015, released an analysis of federal crime that explores how often potential victims actually turned the tables. In 2012, the center counted 259 justifiable gun-related homicides, or incidents in which authorities ruled that killings occurred in self-defense. “In a nation in which there are some 300 million firearms, there were 1.2 million vio- lent crimes, defined as murder, forcible rape, rob- bery and aggravated assault. Or, put another way, 1.2 million scenarios in which there was potential for someone to kill in self-defense. The notion that a good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy with a gun is a romanticized vision of the nature of violent crime. And that the sea of guns in which we live causes exponentially more danger and harm than good.” The other issue that I find appalling is the adult response, of those touting the second amendment, while demeaning the young men and women who have survived the school shootings of recent. Either you have more love for your guns than compassion for the children in our schools, or you are afraid of teenagers who just want to go to school without flack-jackets. Police were on scene, at Parkland. Trained, armed individuals who hid in the face of danger. Two teachers, the week after, brought guns to school and bumbled with them, injuring a student and dis- charging in the classroom. And we are supposed to believe arming teachers is a better solution. Some states have found money in their budgets to arm teachers. Florida put up $4 million to do so. Where was that money before, as teachers have been ask- ing for more counselors and supplies so they can actually do their jobs, helping those in need before tragedy? Michael Valoppi s s 15 s To the Editor: I am writing to ask and encourage the voters of Sisters School District to VOTE YES on Measure 9-121 on the May ballot. This vote is a renewal of the current local option levy and is not a new or additional tax. It is important for the Sisters School District because these funds can be used for the opera- tional budget for our schools, which helps keep our class sizes small and provides important programs and electives. This keeps our schools strong and improves the lives of the children who live here. Sisters is growing, but we are still a small com- munity who care for each other and support one another. I see evidence of this in all aspects of life here. We are all invested here in the success of our community and the renewal will help in many ways. I urge anyone with questions to visit the renewfor sisters.org website, there is a wealth of information there in support of this measure. Thank you! Jennifer King s s s To the Editor: I thought that Terry Weygandt had an interesting idea for gun control in last week’s letters. While I appreciate anyone looking to make suggestions, I found the argument for a “complete and unequivo- cal ban on large-capacity magazines” to be unclear and unsupported. First, limiting magazine capacity to five rounds, as suggested by Weygandt, would render virtually all semi-automatic handguns use- less as even the micro .380 caliber handguns gen- erally hold at least six rounds. Although not men- tioned by Weygandt, this proposed limit on maga- zine capacity would effectively eliminate handguns, which happen to be the most popular and effective See LETTERS on page 24
