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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 2007)
ews Clackamas Print Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007 3 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR students respond to “Lone gun defends Second Amendment” De|ar Editor, Dear Editor, Dear Editor, ■I’m writing to you regard ing the recent article titled “Lone gun defends Second Amendment.” BShirley Katz believes she needs a firearm to protect her- self from her abusive husband. I disagree. ■At the high school, her hus- band is not likely to be able to get near her and harm her. He’s abusive, not murderous, so if by chance he finds her in the parking lot, can’t she use altaser or mace to defend her self? ■One could argue that he could overpower her, but in a public place like a crowded high school, she shouldn’t have much to fear. Allowing her to carry a weapon into a high school, where we are trying to help our youth develop, sends them the wrong message. .< have no problem with guns on a college campus, but at the high school level they only cBse more problems than they solve. Referring to “Lone gun defends Second Amendment”: While reading this article, a million thoughts run through my head. I am concerned knowing that the students I sit in class with are carrying or could be concealing a gun. However, it is also reassuring knowing that if an incident like Virginia Tech happened, I would be protected by my fellow peers. However, no law, no restriction, is going to stop a person with the inten tion to kill. The article that I am referring to is the “Lone gun defends Second Amendment.” I feel that guns are not necessary, and I feel that they should not be allowed on campus. I don’t think that anyone should be allowed the right without proper gun safety. Just having a permit doesn’t make you Mr. know-it-all about guns. I personally don’t feel safe knowing that the idiot next to me possibly has a gun on them. It’s just not right. Alicia Tailman Erika Townsend Firit The Clackamas Print ■The Clackamas Print ■19600 S. Molalla Ave. ■Oregon City, OR »7045 ■503-657-6958, ext. FREE} ulJitltati / <? Clackamas Print NOTE: Letters may have been edited for clarity and space. I I I IO GUN DEFENDS SECOND DIl'XDMEXT I South Medford High School reicht: Shirlev Kaar numttaw a seed to c any a firearm to «choolm order to pro tect herself from her abouve husband. The school district policy forbids this out of concern for i toil tot* safety The mam ium in Medford is the dis trict ban on weapons State law affirms that Katz may have her run as foug as she Las the proper he eate. Katz went to court Thursday. Oct. 11. to argue thit her Second Amendment rights, •ccordine to Oregon «ate and federal law, are being violated by ftoboa. Until Jackson County Circuit Judge G. Philip Arnold makes his final deci sion. she will be allowed to bnng her pattol to class Deaendms Arnold decide Dear Editor, Rachel Turc Send letters by e-mail to chiefed@clackamas.edu or deliver them to Roger Rook Hall, room 135. 1 Ijgustin Torres Bl just wanted to start off by saying that the article titled “Lone gun defends Second Amendment” was really well- written. Bl listened to my class debate about this topic and found that most of them wanted guns to be banned! ■I for one would not give up my rights just to feel safe. My rights are my safety. Now, let’s look at how many rights we have lost all to enforce some sense of safety. ■rhe government can tap into phone lines, torture is now per- mitted, religious freedoms are slowly being taken away. (Do you have kids? Do they know the Pledge of Allegiance?) What amendment goes next? ■The amendments are there to protect us. Laws cannot stop a crazy person from being crazy! Laws cannot prevent people from going on campus and gomg on a killing spree. ,Now, all I have left to ask is, why are our rights there? To protect us or to protect the gov ernment? Why are our amend ments, our rights being threat ened? Bs it because we are failing as a society, or is it because our government is failing as an institution? Anyone is welcome to respond to any and all content published in The Clackamas Print, Clackamas is the only school in Oregon to arm Its campus safety officers, who are issued Sig 226 pistols. Accordmg to poöcy, students at Clackamas are allowed to cany firearms if they have a concealed nandgun license. Huatmg nfie m put racks, epes cany or overly vtitWr weapoai regulations mav not only ■: the "K- Mid- Ashbaugh agrees that the current policy is the «sly legal way id go abour weapons ob campus. Oregon is one of 12 states that allows people to carry weapons to school. I I Dear Editor, This is in reference to your article regarding concealed weapons allowed on campus property. I would like to write this letter in support of this policy. In the wake of incidents such as Columbine and Virginia tech, it is refreshing to see that CCC is taking a stance against such incidents occurring. I feel that allowing a current CHL holder to carry a concealed handgun on campus is a deterrent against school shooting incidents in itself. Thank you for addressing this issue. Robert Stewart B ■ ■ I I Dear Editor, Dear Editor, Dear Editor, There is a saying, albeit one out of many variations, stating, “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” While reading “Lone gun,” I found myself tom between two critical points. In sanctioning the carrying of guns at school, are you encouraging or helping prevent any firearm incidents? I think that perhaps the process of obtaining a concealed handgun license is so intense and elaborate that it’s almost safe to assume it’s a good thing the firearm is in their hands over some one else’s. In the event of a Virginia Tech-esque occurrence, I posit someone with a concealed handgun license would have been much more useful inside Virginia Tech than the legions of la^ enforce ment that anyone could have posted outside. Due to the fact that your paper has an article on guns covering the front page, I was writing to give you my personal point of view. This article was truly unneces sary! Perhaps the reason was valid, but this was just an invitation for more people to bring them with or without a concealed handgun license. Also, if the college wants to allow it, that’s their choice, but let’s not give crazy people the option. We haven’t had any problems yet. There is no reason to make it pronounced and give it the oppor tunity. I recently read your article “lone gun defends second amendment.” I find this to be a very interesting topic with many different view points. My personal opinion is that i think the teacher being able to bring a gun to school is just slightly excessive. I would think that a taser or a weapon that shoots rubber bul lets would send the same message across without killing the guy. I also tend to think about the students in this scenario. If the man was to come to the class and the teacher was to shoot the person, this could scar some of the students for life. Another thought is, what is going to stop students from bringing weapons to school if the teachers can have them? Do we want to have a learning environment where guns are drawn to settle an argument? Shannon Mullicon Ryan Inahara n Ryan Mathisen Editor in Chief: Megan Koler Copy Editor: Colleen Watkins News Editor: Lydia E. Bashaw A&C Editor: Emily Walters Sports Editor: Andrea Simpson Visuals Editors: Kayla Berge, Elizabeth Hitz Associate Editors: Matt Olson, Dustin Ragsdale A d M anager : Meredith James S taff W riters : Dale Balbi, Mallory Bashaw, Ben Caldwell, Lindsey Decker, Melanie Fisher, Matthew Garrison, Michael Komafel, Zak Laster, Riley Lundgren, Jess Sheppard, John Shufelt, Kyle Steele, Alexandria Vallelunga, Mistymarie Wilks-Salguero P roduction A ssistants : Chris Young D epartment A dviser : Melissa Jones D epartment S ecretary : Pat Thompson G oals : The Clackamas Print aims to report the news in an honest, unbiased, professional manner. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the stu dent body, college administration, its faculty or The Print. E-mail comments to chiefed@dackamas. edu.
