MARCH 2, 2018, KEzZERTzMES, PAGE A5
KeizerOpinion
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Apocalyptic thinking and guns
By MICHAEL GERSON
It is one of the dirty habits of
our political discourse that so many
people use thermonuclear rhetori-
cal weapons as a fi rst resort. It is not
enough for defenders of gun rights
to be wrong; they must be
complicit in murder. It is
not enough for gun-con-
trol advocates to be mis-
taken; they must be jack-
booted thugs laying the
groundwork for tyranny.
These competing apoc-
alypses, paradoxically, make
politics appear smaller --
the realm of unbalanced partisans
and professional hyperventilators.
But more destructively, this type
of argument makes incremental
change—the kind that our system
of government encourages—more
diffi cult.
This is a particular shame on the
issue of gun violence. The maximal
solutions—broad restrictions on
gun ownership or fi xing the men-
tal-health system—are so diffi cult
or unlikely that they have become
obstacles to action.
But on guns, there is hope in fo-
cus. While overall gun violence in
America has gone down dramatical-
ly in the last few decades, the use of
guns in suicides (constituting about
two-thirds of gun-related deaths)
and in mass killings have spiked.
Gun use in domestic violence and
gang-related activity present partic-
ular challenges. No single policy will
solve all these problems. But in each
discrete area, good policy would
make a difference.
When it comes to mass killings,
we know what the perpetrators gen-
erally look like: Disappointed loners,
motivated by grudges, seeking fame
and planning their violence care-
fully. So here is an answerable pub-
lic-policy question: What can we
do to identify these dangerous mal-
contents and keep military-grade
weaponry out of their hands? We
should be considering: special po-
lice task forces that actively identify
and track prospective killers instead
of passively responding to warnings.
Higher age restrictions on gun ac-
cess. Broader application of gun-vi-
olence protective orders that forbid
gun ownership to people exhibiting
warning signs. Better education on
those warning signs among adults
who deal with young men. Media
norms against using the names of
mass killers, which only encourages
their deadly performance art.
Surely there are other focused,
proactive responses as well. Yet on
the left, such ideas are sometimes
dismissed as unambitious. And on
the right, these proposals reveal a
durable division.
When it comes to American gun
culture, the issue of motivation mat-
ters a great deal. If you defend access
to guns for sport and self-defense,
there is no logical reason to reject
reasonable restrictions
on fi repower and ac-
cess. Some compromise
—focused on keeping
guns out of the hands of
dangerous and unstable
people—is within the
realm of possibility. But
if you view the ultimate
purpose of gun owner-
ship as resistance to a future (or pres-
ent) tyrannical government, then
restrictions on fi repower and access
are exactly the things a tyrannical
government would want. Since the
goal of an oppressive state is to have
a monopoly on sophisticated weap-
onry, any incremental movement to-
ward that goal is unacceptable.
This argument—summarized by
David French as “the concept of
an armed citizenry as a fi nal, emer-
gency bulwark against tyranny” —is
perhaps understandable in a country
born of revolutionary violence. But
more than two centuries removed
from the revolution, the concept
seems, well, frightening.
When I look at many of the peo-
ple holding the guns, I don’t really
view them as legitimate protectors
of my rights, or as qualifi ed to make
choices about the employment of
violence in politics. I don’t view
America as halfway to tyranny. And
I am grateful that Americans such as
Martin Luther King Jr.—who suf-
fered actual oppression by govern-
ment—made a principled commit-
ment to nonviolent political change.
It is one thing when Thomas Jef-
ferson said “the tree of liberty must
be refreshed from time to time with
the blood of patriots and tyrants.” It
is another thing entirely when your
well-armed neighbor says the same.
I have no idea how much this at-
titude infects the right. But the fever
can be measured in talk of a “deep
state” coup against the president, in
sympathy for Cliven Bundy in his
armed standoff with federal agents,
in support of Texas Gov. Greg Ab-
bott when he ordered the State
Guard to monitor the Jade Helm
Navy SEAL/Green Beret joint
training exercise. All destructive
madness.
It is not just apocalyptic language
but apocalyptic thinking that para-
lyzes our political system on gun vi-
olence. And it is diffi cult to see how
incremental progress can be made
unless that mindset is marginalized.
School
security
forcement welcomed to
walk through any school
daily on a random basis.
• Exterior, parking lot
and entry points all with
video surveillance.
• All classrooms must
have lockdown ability as
well as any meeting area
with safety training.
• Outside recreation and sporting
events must have armed security
uniformed—with radio communi-
cations to local law enforcement.
• School resource offi cers from
local law enforcement agencies can
be assigned on a random basis to
community schools in addition to
the above security measures.
In Oregon, a concealed handgun
license simply requires a 4-hour
class and a background investiga-
tion. No hands-on weapon and
shooting experience is required. It
takes years of training and shooting
experience to get profi cient for a
tactical shooting situation. Anyone
armed in a school must have that
training and experience.
John Rizzo
Keizer
guest
opinion
To the Editor:
After 25 years in state
law enforcement and
several years in security
management, I would like
to offer suggestions for
school security.
A security picture for any facil-
ity requires several layers of security.
I would not recommend arming
teachers and administrators who do
not have professional experience
with tactical weapons response. No
teacher should be expected to shoot
over the heads of their students at an
active shooter.
The main security effort for
schools should be to prevent an ac-
tive shooter from entering the fa-
cility. A security picture for schools
should include the following layers:
• Facility access control. Facility
entry at the main entry only for stu-
dents, staff can enter other locations
with card access only—uniformed
armed security present at main en-
try.
• Building exterior signage
“Premises protected by armed se-
curity and 24-hour video surveil-
lance.”
• Plain clothes armed security
professionals fulltime or on a ran-
dom basis weekly for each commu-
nity school.
• Local, county and state law en-
(Washington Post Writers Group)
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CPAC: What a difference a year makes
By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS
One year ago, when the Conser-
vative Political Action Conference
convened for its annual gathering,
participants were positive about
Donald Trump’s 2016 election vic-
tory, gleeful that Hillary
Clinton did not win, but
unsure about what the
future would bring. So
they danced around their
new leader’s ascent gin-
gerly.
(There was also the is-
sue of CPAC’s failure to
endorse Trump as whole-
heartedly as his base. In
2016, Trump ended up cancelling
his planned speech at CPAC under
threat of a walkout, and he came in
third in CPAC’s presidential straw
poll.)
Matt Schlapp, whose American
Conservative Union puts on the
event, noticed the change this year
from 2017.
“Last year I think people were
a little bit still in a state of shock.
You know, did this really happen?”
Schlapp told the Review Journal. “This
year I think there’s more of a feeling
of, it’s working. For conservatives the
agenda that the president’s put out
there is just working so well.”
Trump was aware of the group’s
misgivings. At the start of his 75-min-
ute address Friday, he said, “Remem-
ber when I fi rst started running? Be-
cause I wasn’t a politician, fortunately.
But do you remember I started run-
ning and people would say, ‘Are you
sure he’s a conservative?’ I think now
we’ve proved that I’m a conservative,
right?”
A year ago, White House Chief of
Staff Reince Priebus sat with Chief
Strategist Steve Bannon at a session
designed to defuse stories about a
feud between the two. Bannon fa-
mously announced that the Trump
administration was committed to
“the deconstruction of the adminis-
trative state.”
Trump later fi red both aides. The
important thing is “the president is
still deconstructing the administra-
tive state,” David Bossie, long-time
Trump adviser and head
of the conservative group
Citizens United, asserted
after Trump’s CPAC ad-
dress.
John Cox, a business-
man who is running for
California governor as a
Republican, said he didn’t
think that Trump, a former
Democrat whose positions
often varied from GOP doctrine, was
truly conservative.
“I didn’t vote for him,” said Cox,
who has attended CPAC conferences
for years.
Would he vote for Trump in 2020?
“Absolutely, with bells on,” Cox an-
swered, who is thrilled with Trump’s
judicial picks and the effective U.S.
assault on ISIS.
Trump still grates on Cox, who
acknowledged that for all the policy
pluses, “the trouble is the personality.”
Cox described Trump as the opposite
of President Barack Obama, who is
highly likable as a human being, but
whose policies offended Cox.
As a candidate in a very blue state
(with no Republicans in statewide
offi ce), Cox is aware of the diffi -
culties Trump could present for his
campaign. And it’s not just because of
Trump. Cox also blames the media
for “unrelentingly negative” cover-
age.
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary
Johnson thinks Trump’s tenure in the
White House will make it impossible
for a Republican to win statewide in
another blue state, New Mexico.
“If you’re running,” he explained,
“you’d be expected to defend him.”
As for Nevada’s governor’s race,
Johnson predicted a Democratic win
other
opinions
—then posited that his 2016 election
loss suggests he is no expert.
It says something about CPAC
that Johnson met well-wishers and
selfi e-seekers wherever he walked at
the conference—even though he ran
against Trump as a Libertarian candi-
date for president in 2016.
While most attendees seemed
happy to embrace Trump as a fel-
low conservative, Johnson was not so
sure. Yes, he said, Trump is conserva-
tive “in some ways. He reduced taxes
—but he didn’t reduce spending and
I think that’s part of the conservative
equation.”
Johnson presented a view on
Trump that runs contrary to what
others say. He thinks Trump doesn’t
rate as a conservative because he does
not communicate well.
“I don’t know his thought pro-
cess,” said Johnson. “Part of the art
of governing is to communicate why
you do things. I think he’s done a re-
ally poor job of that.”
As an example, Johnson said, he
doesn’t understand Trump on Af-
ghanistan. “What’s your information
on Afghanistan that you’re doubling
down on Afghanistan, instead of get-
ting out, which is what you said dur-
ing the campaign?” (Presidents can
change their mind, Johnson stressed,
he just wants to know what factors
led to the change.)
Other CPAC attendees confi ded
their misgivings on an off-the-record
basis, but they wanted to stay on the
Trump train.
Schlapp, whose wife, Mercedes, a
high-profi le defender of conservative
causes in her own right, joined the
White House communications team
in September, said, “The room itself
with the president, we’ve never had
that many people in that room. And
he had a lot of fun in the speech. He
connects with these people.”
(Creators Syndicate
Children should not be a political issue
We Americans are well known
for our support of sports programs
and military engagements but, in far
too few instances, for looking af-
ter the welfare of all our children. It
was therefore an uplifting news item
to learn through the media this past
week that Gov. Kate Brown
seeks action from the Or-
egon Legislative for $14.5
million to hire more em-
ployees, a total of 185 more,
in the state Department of
Human Services’ child wel-
fare program.
At fi rst blush, this would
seem an easy proposal to
accomplish. After all, whenever the
latest report of child abuse is an-
nounced in the media, the opposition
party jumps all over it, declaring the
majority party’s governor, and that
governor’s executives, managers and
workers, incompetent and deserv-
ing of immediate job terminations.
So, maybe with this latest guberna-
torial fi x-it plan, the partisan crowd
will surrender their votes to a good
idea whose time has obviously come
throughout the state of Oregon.
Gov. Brown has been quoted to
say in support of her plan of action:
“We rely on dedicated professionals
on the frontlines to ensure children’s
well-being, and we need to do our
utmost right now to support those
caseworkers who are there, day in and
day out, working in our communi-
ties and making an impact one child
at a time.” Amen! The governor’s ad-
ditional work force would include 75
social workers, 75 caseworkers, 25 of-
fi ce support staff and 10 managers.
Brown wants our legislators to act
now during the current session to
make certain more children here can
look forward to a brighter future. She
references a recent audit
by the Oregon Secretary
of State’s offi ce that points
out chronic problems in
the program, noting also
that there are program-
diminishing numbers of
staff in turnover losses
and diffi culty in replacing
them. Conditions there
suggest the work is not only highly
stressful but absent, as now constitut-
ed, improvement prospects.
The governor’s design would focus
on “frontline support in fi eld visits
along with offi ce personnel looking
after administrative tasks so casework-
ers can focus their time and effort on
children and families.” We’re told by
Brown’s spokesperson that a number
of legislators share the governor’s en-
thusiasm and the additional state in-
vestment required to help the state’s
children into safer and healthier living
conditions.
Never to remain quiet regarding
any plan from the opposition, the
governor has been criticized for not
mentioning the foster care issue in
her State of the State address. The op-
position’s voice to run for governor
in 2018 says he would request about
$35 million more to pay for a “rapid-
gene
h.
mcintyre
improvement team” although the spe-
cifi cs on how this team would be de-
signed for greater effectiveness are not
available. Meanwhile, the crisis persists
and the demand for action immediate
and should not reside in limbo for at
least another legislative session.
The foster care issue is already hot
and, if not addressed now due to party
foot-dragging, will be among those
hot button issues later this year as
we draw ever-closer to the Novem-
ber election. Meanwhile, there are so
many young Oregonians who are suf-
fering due to their dire living situa-
tions that this writer hopes the Brown
proposal comes to a successful vote in
the legislature so that a chance for
early-on help can be set in motion for
the kids under threat and can proceed
without further delay.
All politics aside, this matter should
not be among the partisan variety, as
literally hundreds of Oregon youth in
the balance are the victims of foster
care gone wrong. And there are more
impacts to their lives than what’s hap-
pening to them now. Although not
their exclusive domain, too often
these young persons, later adults, are
those who join gangs, commit crimes,
get involved with illicit drugs, upend
schools and communities, and other-
wise lead desperate lives. That’s why
we should not wait until Kate Brown
gets re-elected or Knute Buehler re-
places her.
(Gene H. Mczntyre lives in Keizer.)