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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2018)
24 Wednesday, April 18, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon LETTERS Continued from page 15 choice for self-defense. Secondly, it seems that attempting to ban large- capacity magazines is really just a backdoor effort to ban AR-15-style weapons. The question we should be attempting to answer is whether an AR-15 ban would be an effective way to prevent murder. We should be asking if it is even necessary in the first place to ban AR-15 rifles. Is there such an obscene amount of murder by AR-15s that a ban is the only humane choice we have? Could a ban actually be carried out and if it could be, would it be an effective solution? Are we willing to turn thousands of law-abiding citizens into felons? According to the Uniform Crime Report com- piled by the FBI there were 15,070 murders com- mitted in 2016. Of these 15,070 murders, only 374 were committed with rifles. 7,105 were committed with handguns. So I have yet to understand why there is such outrage over the AR-15 rifle when it accounts for such a small percentage of the total deaths. I don’t see any student marches to ban hand- guns even though approximately 19 people die from handguns for every person killed with a rifle. To put that in shocking perspective, for the 17 people killed in Parkland by an AR-15 rifle, 323 people are killed with handguns. It seems to me that people are either ignorant of the facts or have ulterior motives. If we are truly interested in saving lives I suggest we start with reducing the 472 murders by blunt objects —they account for approximately 20 percent more mur- ders than rifles. So carpenters, turn in your framing hammers. Jensen Newton s s s To the Editor: Like many families in this remarkable commu- nity, my family moved here for the Sisters School District. Over the past 12 years Sisters School District has not disappointed us. Our children have received nothing short of superior educational ser- vices. Furthermore, as a former teacher and princi- pal, I know first-hand the significance of continuing school support in order to maintain these services, retain our gifted teachers and sustain Sisters’ reputa- tion for educational excellence. I appeal to you to support our children with the passage of Measure 9-121. Your support will not cost you additional taxes and will assure the qual- ity educational programs that make Sisters schools truly exceptional. Becky Lukens s s s To the Editor: Commissioner Tammy Baney deserves your vote in the upcoming primary election. She has served tirelessly for the citizens of Deschutes County since 2007. Her experience with the County is invaluable during this time of unparalleled growth in Central Oregon. Tammy’s long history in the Sisters area (her daughter attended Sisters High School and was an Americana Project participant) makes her a great advocate for Sisters and Sisters Country. Whenever I need help with projects in Sisters, whether it be affordable housing, jobs, or support for arts and culture — I can always count on Tammy. She con- sistently maintains an open line of communication with her constituents, listens and acts. I think it’s important that our County Commissioners understand the values of the com- munities they represent... this position should not be one of partisanship but of overall advocacy. Vote for Tammy Baney for County Commission in the May primary. Kathy Deggendorfer s s s To the Editor: We are ninth-grade biology students at Sisters High School. We have been tasked with limiting the amount of plastic that is released into our environ- ment. We have done research to see what the best way to accomplish this is, and we have decided to write to political leaders and talk to them about imposing a plastic-bag tax. In 2014, California posed a ban on plastic bags, and so far they are the only state to do so. However, many cities in other states have followed Oregonians read their local newspapers! 81.8% report 2+ people inside/outside of their home read their copy of the local newspaper. These results, published 3-12-18, combine answers from 308 Oregon adults, ages 18+ who participated in a Pulse Marketing Survey. Information provided Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. suit including Austin, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and a few others. Some cities have elected to impose a plastic-bag fee such as Boulder, Colorado; Portland, Maine, and Washington, DC. Chicago, Illinois posted a ban on the use of thin plastic bags. Some stores then reverted to thicker plastic bags; therefore the ban was considered a failure. This year, Chicago decided to impose a tax on the bags. The tax, which is seven cents, has already made quite the difference. Within the first month, the amount of plastic and paper bags had dropped 42 percent. That alone can help the environment tre- mendously. As of right now the plastic from these bags is ending up in places where it should not be. It’s becoming normal for some cities to see bags in trees. Some call them leaves because of how many there are. Those that don’t end up on land end up in the oceans. They are then carried to the gyres, where the ocean currents carry the debris that ends up in the ocean. There are five major gyres in our oceans. Not only are these gyres a place for debris, but they are also home to many nutrients. This attracts marine life. The marine life is then injured or hurt because of the debris in these places. This may seem trivial but for the continued success of our world it is deeply important. If we don’t act now our oceans, marine life, and humans will suffer the consequences. Natalie Sitz, Emilie Turpen, Olivia Bertagna, Austen Heuberger s s s To the Editor: Craig Rullman’s latest column (The Bunkhouse Chronicle: The Stormy Daniels Upper, The Nugget, April 11, page 13) went too far. After Malheur, I’m leery of armed white men laying down ultimatums like, “You don’t get my guns. None of them. Ever. And I mean that most sincerely.” This sort of rhetoric strikes me as disrespectful. It’s especially inappropriate from a regular colum- nist (as opposed to a letter to the editor or guest col- umnist.) Shouldn’t a writer sanctioned by our com- munity paper adhere to the Citizens4Community guidelines? If you’re not going to act neighborly, See LETTERS on page 30
