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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (May 8, 2012)
in other words The Gun Doctor: Should You Be Armed? By Wolfgang Rotbart This article may be somewhat more controversial than previous ones as it will deal with the question: Should you as an individual be armed? At the extremes, there are those who feel that virtually everybody should be armed and those who believe that only law enforcement & the military should be. I think the answer lies in between and is very much dependent on the indi- vidual and the circumstances. We have a tenuous Constitu- tional right to the right to keep and bear arms, but just because an individual can arm himself, it doesn’t necessarily fol- low that they should. With every right comes respon- sibility and every firearm owner should know his legal responsibilities under the law. For the individual, several ques- tions should be asked and honestly an- swered regarding firearm ownership: Are you legally entitled to own a firearm? In general, you cannot pur- chase, own or sometimes even be in pos- session of a firearm if you have a felony conviction, are under a restraining order, some misdemeanor convictions or any within four years, been dishonorably discharged from the military or been ad- judicated as mentally ill or incompetent along with a few other cases. Are you willing to accept the tremendous responsibility that comes with possessing a firearm? You literally have the power of life and death in your hands. There should be nothing flippant or casual about firearm ownership. Are you willing to live with the fact that you might be forced to take a life in order to save your own or those you love? I know one woman is ex- tremely hoplophobic (i.e. having an ir- rational fear of weapons themselves as opposed to the natural anxiety regarding the damage they can inflict). By her own admission, she would not be able to use a firearm to stop an attack even if her own family were being killed one by one in front of her. This woman should not possess a firearm for obvious reasons. Are you quick-tempered, over- indulge in alcohol, drugs or just very impulsive? Once you pull the trigger, it cannot be undone. Some people seem to think that using a firearm to settle a dis- pute or make a dramatic point is accept- able. Of course, these folks also should not own a firearm. Are you pre- pared for the fi- nancial and legal Columbia County Circuit Court Notice consequences of using a firearm in self- defense? No matter what the circum- stances, no matter how justified you may be in using a firearm for self-defense, you will almost certainly be sued by someone if you do. Many homeowner “umbrella” or general liability insurance policies specifically do NOT cover fire- arm related incidents. It would be wise to check your policy and consider get- ting protection specifically for this, es- pecially if you also carry a firearm on a regular basis. Do you have children living in your home or visiting on a regular basis? When and where I grew up, there were readily available, loaded firearms in vir- tually every home, but all the children were quite aware of the (usually pain- ful consequences) of even getting near a firearm without Mom or Dad’s permis- sion and there weren’t any problems. Of course, today, even if your children are well disciplined in this matter, you cer- tainly can’t assume that the neighbors’ children, and many adults for that mat- ter, are and therefore stringent care must always be taken to ensure that firearms are properly secured. I intend to discuss this in detail in my next article. Do you have an occupation or pastime that presents greater than aver- age risks for assault? I recall reading about incidents in The Oregonian for may8 2012 7 scenarios as diverse as pizza delivery to auto repossession to home invasion. Do you transit high crime areas regularly or live in such an area? Almost every community has relatively safe ar- eas and others that are quite dangerous. However, no place should ever be con- sidered absolutely safe. Are you in an especially vul- nerable group? Violent crime is over- whelmingly committed by relatively young males physically in their prime and much of their crime is directed against those who are generally badly mismatched in a direct physical confron- tation – women, disabled & the elderly. There is a saying that God made men, but Samuel Colt (inventor of the revolv- er) made them equal. I welcome ideas for topics for these arti- cles. Please email them to: Wolfgang@ WolfgangTheGunDoctor.com or call me at 503-429-7342 10:00 – 5:00 M – F Wolfgang Rotbart is an AGI-certified Master Gunsmith and a NRA-certified Basic Pistol Course Instructor. He works as a gunsmith and as an Oregon Concealed Handgun Safety Course In- structor. You may visit The Gun Doctor website for more information at: http:// www.wolfgangthegundoctor.com/ Public Certification Test and Drop Sites for the Primary Election to be held Tuesday, May 15, 2012 As you are aware, the State of Oregon is in the midst of significant budget cuts which severely affect the court’s ability to meets its public mandate to uphold the law and constitution and to safeguard the state’s justice system. We can no longer provide all of the services we have traditionally provided. Service to our community and to its access to the court system The Public Certification Test of the Apr. 27 – May 14 During Library Hours will be curtailed. counting equipment for the Primary Election May 15, 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM The Oregon Judicial Department has lost 201 permanent to be held on May 15, 2012 will be held FTE since the 2007-09 biennium 12 % reduction. As of May 1, SCAPPOOSE CITY HALL on Tuesday, May 8, 2012. The testing will 2012 we will be losing an additional 51.61 FTE. This will affect 33568 E. Columbia Ave. begin at 11:00 AM in the County Elections the Columbia County Circuit Court as follows: Department. The public is welcome to attend. Apr. 27 – May 14 During Office Hours • The Columbia County Circuit Court will lose two May 15 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM Drop sites for the election will be as additional employees. This comes in spite of the employee follows: furloughs and wage freeze. MIST BIRKENFELD RFPD • The three circuit court judges will cut their support 12525 Highway 292 VERNONIA LIBRARY staff from two to one with their judicial assistant taking on Apr. 27 – May 14 During Office Hours 701 Weed Ave. the courtroom clerk duties and the docketing function being May 15, 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM Apr. 27 – May 14 During Library Hours combined into one docketing clerk. May 15, 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM • Traffic citations will be scheduled for only two days COUNTY COURTHOUSE a week: Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM ELECTIONS DEPT. RAINIER CITY HALL Defendants coming to the court for traffic arraignments at any 230 Strand St. 106 B St. West other times may or may not be able to take care of their citations. St. Helens, OR 97051 Apr. 27 – May 14 During Office Hours • The court phones will be open from 8:30 to 3:00 PM 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM Mon. – Thu. May 15, 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM Monday through Thursday. Closed on Fridays. Election Day - May 15, 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM • The court will be closed on Friday except for A drive-by drop box is located in the lower CLATSKANIE LIBRARY pre scheduled restraining order appearances, stalking order parking lot. 11 Lillich St. appearances, in custody arraignments, and immediate danger appearances in the morning. In addition the judges will only hear pre-arranged special appearances in their chambers in the morning. On Friday afternoons staff will be working behind closed doors trying to catch up on data entry and filing. • Because the court is closed for filings on Friday, under ORCP 10A, “if the period so computed relates to serving a public officer or filing a document at a public office when that particular office is closed before the end of or for all of the normal work day…the period runs until the close of office hours on the next day the office is open for business.” • Copy requests may take up to one month to process. • Entry of judgments may take LTC#29629-C up to one month to enter. We are very sorry we have to Licensed tax consultant • Full service payroll 2245 Baseline St., Cornelius (Across from Fred Meyer) implement these changes which cause Personal & small business bookkeeping • QuickBooks assistance Open everyday delay to accessing justice and threaten CORPS, S-CORPS, LLC, Partnerships • Personal one-on-one service 503-530-8119 at 9 a.m. State Licensed PB-0388 public safety. 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