Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1982)
opinion Handgun law sets course for future A suburb of Chicago has found a way to unravel the complicated matter of handgun control. The village of Morton Grove, Illinois, passed an ordinance banning the sale and possession of handguns That ordinance passed in June 1981 and just recently was ruled constitutional by a U S District Court. Morton Grove has set a precedent for com munities all over the country that are concerned with the proliferation of handguns and handgun related crimes in their communities There is no reason the City Council of Eugene cannot follow the example of Morton Grove and adopt a similar handgun ordinance Before Morton Grove’s ordinance the problem of hand gun control was left to the federal government. Legislation by the federal government has been effectively squelched by rifle associations, ft is not unfair to say the federal govern ment may never legislate handgun control nationally without a base of community-support in the form of handgun ordin ances The Morton Grove Village Board of Trustees voted last June to ban the sale and possession of handguns Under the ordinance, owners of handguns were allowed 90 days to get rid of their guns or make make provisions for them, such as storage at gun clubs For a first offense, violaters would only be warned A second offense would cost the violator a $500 fine and six-months in jail The Morton Grove ordinance was instigated after a request was made to open a gun store in a shopping center in the residential section of the village The sponsor of the ordinance, Neil Cashman, said the owner assured the village he would only sell to policemen Cashman doubted the business was really only for policemen, as Morton Grove has a police force of only 50 people Morton Grove s impetus for enacting the handgun ordinance is certainly singular, but not uncommon from situations in other towns across the country The criteria for establishing an ordinance banning the sale and possession of handguns can be individually defined for each community The controversy over handgun control can be paralleled with obscenity and pornography if one sees the village applying a concensus of public opinion and enacting a standard for their community If the ordinance, which is being appealed, reaches the U S. Supreme Court, the proponents may be successful if they argue for community standards Community standards, in obscenity and pornog raphy. and possibly in handgun control, are feasible aven ues to address the handgun problem Eventually, a national handgun law will have to be enacted The Morton Grove ordinance is a solid start Morton Grove, Illinois is a community not unlike Eugene in design and outlook It is an upper-middle-class suburb in the rolling hills northwest of Chicago The area is primarily residential, with little heavy industry The population is well educated and concerned with total environment of their community as this handgun ordinance illustrates The dif ference between Morton Grove and Eugene is that that community took a courageous step to eliminate a national problem from their village Handgun related crimes are, and have been, on the increase during the past decades Something has to be done to control the sale and possession of such lethal devices as the Saturday night special Eugene and other communities concerned with the proliferation of handguns and the plague of handgun related crimes should consider following Morton Grove's lead and adopt handgun ordinances It is a viable alternative to waiting for the federal government to respond to the people s will and enact a law that is sorely needed dai# emerald The Oregon Oaiiy Emerald is published Monday through Enda) except durmg finals uveex and vacations by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co at the University of Oregon Eugene Oregon 97403 The Oregon Daily Emerald operates independently of the University and is a member of the Associated Press Offices are on the third Boor of the Erb Memorial Union New* and Edrtonai Dtaplay Advertising and Business CIS mat ned Advertising Production Editor Managing Editor News Editor Sally Hodgtunson Gabne Boehmer Harry Esteve 646-5511 666-3712 666-4343 666-4381 Assistant News Edi Photo Editor Graphics Editor Editorial Page Edrtc Sports Editor Associate Sports E Associate Editors ASUO Community Departments and S Higher Education features Politics Enmronme Night Editor Gsnsrsl Staff Classified Advertisi Production Manage Advertising Directo Ad Services Controller “THE PhRTY SAYS 'EAT etters Incompetence Last Memorial Day weekend my 10-speed bicycle was stolen from tn front of the Hawthorne dormitory I reported the bike, to campus security, as stolen The next day I was called back by the campus security office and told that they could not find my registration card I insisted that I had registered my bike, and had a green sticker (number 6639) on the frame They insisted there was no record, so I gave up Early m December. I saw what looked like my old bicycle (I had since bought a new one), it was parked outside Carson Hall I promptly called Campus Secur ity, and they in turn notified the Eugene Police department The bicycle was identified as mine in a very interesting way The campus officer radioed back to the office and compared the number on the green sticker (still on the bicycle) to the registration number on my registration form (the one they couldn't find last year) The Eugene police officer in vestigated the theft and found some interesting evidence Last year the bike was found by a resident of the Hamilton com plex in some bushes near his dorm He brought the bike to his RA who notified the campus Security office A short time later, the same caller notified campus security, again, of the found bicycle At the end of the year, having had no one from campus security come to pick up the bike, one of the residents kept it His sister was using it on Of I nor :t*>0 S II '9 John Heaiy Bob Baker Max DeRungs Cort EernaiO Ste*e Spau Jet! Dickerson Dane Ciaussen Manan Greer Debbie Hoarlett Ann Ponai Caroline Petricb Ron Hunt Harry Esteve Sally Oljar Ann Pelerson Danene Gore Caro' McMulien Jean Oambey campus this year until I found it Why wasn't my registration card found the first time, when I needed it the most'5 Why wasn't the bike picked up from the Hamilton RA7 How grossly inef ficient is our security office7 My last question is. how often does this needless form of incompe tence go on7 Dave Lund Sophomore, Computer Science ‘Taps' inane It is remarkable that anyone should find something good to say about the film "Taps and I am particularly disappointed that the Emerald s film reviewer. Matt Meyer, has so cour ageously committed this sin against literacy Taps,' a cin ematic monument to everything mane, is about an army of mili tary academy students who are such intellectual zeros that they will risk their lives shooting it out to save their alma mater from condo conversion That isn't a plot it's a preposterous excuse for a shoot-out Comparing ■Taps” to Lord of the Flies” is (excuse my eloquence) dis gusting these aren't children acting in an adult world,” these are grown students acting like psychopaths — they deserve to be shot Liking "Taps is tantamount to moral complacency "Taps” insults the intelligence of its audience like no other film before it, we are not yet a nation so bereft of values that we will shoot each other over our alma maters Don't see "Taps,” go to "Reds” instead Bruc* Robinson Senior, political science Mainstream "Think like we do or else!” is implied by (1) University profes sor Carl Hosticka. Lane County Democratic Campaign Chair man and (2) Oregon s news reporters Hosticka intends to label ‘ mainstream” democratic can didates by issuing pre-primary endorsements and political reporters will cover only ser ious' candidates The U S Constitutions First Amendment goal of freedom of speech is to achieve the widest possible dissemination of infor mation from diverse and an tagaonistic sources " 436 US 775 Jefferson said "Truth is great and will prevail if left to herself that she is the proper and suf ficient antagonist to error and has nothing to fear from the conflict unless by human inter position disarmed of her natural weapons, tree argument and debate errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them " Call it what you will, fascism or communism, every totalitar ian movement has controlling political party and public thought as its hallmark It has meant the establishment of government by decree, by bur eaucratic planning by concen trated and irresponsible power Indeed, who has the right to say what a party stands for until a candidate s issues are ac cepted or rejected by an in formed public's primary vote7 And what news reporter has the right to judge one candidate s issues "serious" and another's not7 John M. Rood B Street Springfield Pornography John Gibbons' letter on por nography is either a very clumsy satire or a chickenshit approval I can't quite tell which To me pornography is nothing less than a sickening form of violence against women, chil dren — and men And more and more pornography is taking a violent turn into bondage, pain and even death There is noth ing rebellious of tradition in pornography There is quite a difference betweeen the back ward stupidity of pornography and the beautiful possibilities of erotica And John, maybe you should help your son become a person instead of another path etic macho man" getting off on stag films Suzy Downs Eugene
