J u n e 14, 2000
Page A 4
IJorthuiò (Dbeeruer
Have a Happy
Father's Day
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<Elje ^ lo r tla n b (O bavruer
la a a H M N i
Have guns will cavil
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(Hlje
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(Ph sem er
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D E A D L IN E S
ki.ocK, S r .
In recent months , I have written columns on such diverse and provocative
subjects as business greed, the priesthood, ethnic relations, marriage, abortion
and obesity. No subject, though, ever produces as much negative reader
reaction as do my occasional sallies into the battleground o f gun control. And
here we go again ("LOCK AND LOAD!’’) I’m at a loss to understand, much less
accept, the quibbling arguments that are raised every time a suggestion is made
that firearms should be regulated - even including restrictions on assault
weapons and armor-piercing ammunition.
Any move in such directions, however minuscule, raises the fear in
some o f total confiscation o f weapons by a government running jack-booted
over the constitutional rights o f law-abiding citizens. This isn’t about any such
draconian measures, or even first steps thataway.
Neither do I deny the wisdom o f enforcing all laws presently on the
books regarding the ownership, use and misuse o f privately-owned weaponry,
so let’s not get bogged down in that pointless “either/or” peeing contest. The
strident screams on both extremes o f the debate drown out voices o f reason
and compromise.
Only two simple questions are posed here:
1. Why not register guns?
2. Why not license gun owners?
Automobiles are registered, in part, so that the owners can be traced in the
event the vehicles are stolen or involved in illegal activities. Registrants are
keenly aware o f their accountability, even in absentia, so they tend to be pretty
careful about who gets access to their wheels.
Granted, this does not prevent abuse by the law-deriding segments o f our
society, but it certainly mitigates the mayhem that would exist without it.
Likew ise, people are not privileged to drive unless and until they
have shown themselves capable o f doing so without endangering the lives and
property o f others. Again, although it is an imperfect preventive, without
operators’ licenses our roadways would be as hazardous as snake pits.
N eith er reg istratio n nor licensure should be seen as a th reat to
sportspeople, collectors, defenders o f the Constitution and protectors o f
home, family, business and themselves. Nor do they have anything to hide if
none o f their reasons for packing or storing rods are illegal, immoral or
hazardous to others.
That tired argument about registration and/or licenses being a first
step toward confiscation is a reach comparable in credibility to the famous
"Rosemary” stretch, offered as an explanation o f incriminating gaps in the
Nixon W hite House tapes.
Such a total ban would require at least an Act o f Congress and, if
the more militant NRAmuses are'correct, repeal o f the Second Amendment.
These events are as likely to come about as mandatory lie detector tests
during political speeches and court testimony. Aside (although it is beyond
the range o f this discussion): The argument that the Second Amendment
grants individuals the unrestricted right to forever hold their pieces is a crock
that even Davy Crockett (who shot him a bear when he was only three) would
recognize as such.
Back on target: W hile a thum ping m ajority o f A m ericans favor
reasonable gun controls to at least lessen the carnage we presently endure,
only a few in our midst favor the extreme o f complete disarmament.
Yet the caviling o f gun-huggers continues, dram atized by Charlton
Heston’s histrionic "from my cold dead hands” challenge at this year’s NRA
convention. Add that organization’s threatened boycott o f Smith & Wesson
for “buckling to government pressure” by equipping their pistols with
childproof locks. (Can you imagine that? Next thing you know, they’ll be
p u ttin g k id -re sista n t caps on baby a sp irin ...a n d TH EN w hat?}
Recently, a powerful force entered the fray, on the side o f compromise.
Regardless o f their age, I doubt that any readers could now run ten
steps with lollipop sticks in their mouths without hearing an echo o f the
same familiar voice from the past that cautioned them against playing in
mud puddles and taking candy from strangers.
Thousands o f these gentle warriors forewent the pampering o f M other’s
Day at hom e to dem onstrate for sensible gun control. They want
registration, licensure and mandatory locks to protect children...that and
nothing more.
Why? Because they’re the Mothers...that’s why! (Did you really have
to ask?)
They were motivated by the same instincts that have stationed them
b etw een d a n g e r and th e ir loved ones since the daw n o f tim e.
Arrayed against their common-sense approach is a noisy minority o f
e x tre m ists w ho are a p p a re n tly b lin d to the b a sic problem .
What problem? Quite simply, that there are too many guns too easily
available to too many people who might use them unwisely, including both
good people and bad guys.
What to do about it?
"Listen to Mom,” sez I. She might not always be right, but when it
comes to playing with fire...or firearms...she’s not likely to be wrong!
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
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4
Many Oregonians have good ideas
for improving government, and those
ideas
deserve public recognition. The 2000
O reg o n
B e tte r G o v e rn m e n t
Competition can help promote them.
Organized by the Cascade Policy
Institute, the Competition seeks ideas
for improving Oregon State and local
government. A total o f $40,000 in
awards and honoraria is available for
the winning ideas. The entry deadl ine
is June 30.
A distinguished panel of independent
ju d g e s, w hich includes form er
O regon Secretary o f State Phil
Keisling, will select the winners.
Winning ideas will be promoted
throughout the state and across the
country.
From
th e
th re e
p rev io u s
Competitions, fourteen o f twenty-six
winning ideas have been introduced
as legislation, seven have passed
into law and others have been acted
upon at the local level.
You should enter the 2000 Oregon
Better Government Competition ifyou
have an idea for improving some
aspect o f Oregon Government. For
guidelines, call (503) or refer to
w w w .C a s c a d e P o lic y .o r g /
bgchome.asp.
Sincerely,
Angela Fchardt
Program Director
Come visit us
on the web at
www.portlandobserver.eom
4
Justice Dept. finding should close book
on King’s murder, but probably w on’t
Yet another Justice Department probe into the murder
o f Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. again found that King
w asn’t killed by Mafia hit men, the FBI, Army
intelligence, racist hate groups, or black ministers. He
was murdered by a two bit hood, James Earl Ray. For the
th ird tim e since K ing w as m u rd ered in
1968, Justice Department investigators ripped apart the
tissue o f lies Ray grew fond oftel ling over the years, that
a mysterious “Raoul” had framed him, that Memphis
prosecutors pressured him to accept a deal to cover-up
the conspiracy, and that legions o f secret conspirators
aided and abetted him.
These are flat out fabrications that Ray conjured up to
salve his conscience, grab media attention, and cash in
on the notoriety o f the case. Jerry Ray, Ray’s brother,
Jesse Jackson, the King family, and o f course,
conspiracy buffs, swallowed them hook, line and sinker.
When a Memphis jury in a much publicized civil lawsuit
b ro u g h t by the K ing fam ily ru le d last
December that King was the victim o f a contracted hit,
conspiracy theorists went into delirium. This gave new
lease on life to their claim that Ray was a Lee Harvey
Oswald type patsy o f government agents or organized
crime figures.
The press and conspiracy theorists gleefully glossed
over the fact that the court produced no smoking gun
documents or credible eyewitness testimony to back
Ray’s delusions that he was the fall guy in a vast plot
to kill King.
The big puzzle is why conspiracy buffs have been so
willing to go to the barricades on the trumped up word
o f a lo a th so m e , d isc re d ite d con m an? The
King assassination had none o f the dangling loose
ends o f the Kennedy assassination. From day one
police and investigators had the goods on Ray. His
fingerprints were on the murder weapon. He was at the
crime scene. He fled the country. And he quickly and
voluntarily confessed to the murder. The key to the
puzzle can be summed up in these words, the FBI.
Despite the Justice Department’s convincing report
that Ray murdered King, the FBI still has not answered
m any questions about the secret w ar it waged
against King from the late 1950’s to the day o f his
murder. According to voluminous public documents
released to researchers and government investigators,
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and the Justice Department
relentlessly tried to tie King to the Communist party. The
assault on King was more than Hoover acting out his
paranoid obsessions against a man whom he considered
a dangerous subversive, it was a war against the black
movement. And Hoover decided that the cheap and dirty
way to win that war was by discrediting the most respected
and admired symbol o f that movement.
Many o f those dirty tactics employed by FBI agents
against King are now well known. They deluged him with
w ire ta p s, p h y sic a l su rv e illa n c e , p o iso n -p e n
letters, threats, harassment, intimidation, and smear sexual
leaks to the media.
During its investigation o f the assassination, Hoover
claimed that the FBI did not find a single fact to indicate
any conspiracy in the assassination. Ray was the man
and the FBI slammed the book on the ease. It was the
“lone nut” assassin theory repeated again. There is, o f
course, no proof that the FBI or other government agents
killed King. But the ferocity of the FBI’s secret war
against him and the many questions the FBI probe did
not publicly answer about Kay’s travels, his possible
links to white supremacist groups, and conservative
business groups in the South, and the role o f government
agents that were at or near the Lorraine Motel the day
King was killed have created deep public suspicions that
R ay d id n ’t act alo n e and th at the FBI
didn ’t tell the complete truth about King’s murder. Those
same unanswered questions left enough wiggle room for
conspiracy theorists to have a field day trying to unravel
se c re t p lo ts, co v er-u p s and fin ally blam e the
government for killing King.
The Justice Department probe proved for the umpteenth
time that the government, racist groups, and organized
crime figures did not issue orders to kill King. And to
make sure that there were no charges o f cover it smartly
kept the FBI out o f the investigation.
Yet its finding can’t and shouldn’t absolve the FBI o f its
disgraceful, destructive and illegal campaign against
King. The climate o f suspicion and hostility it created
toward the civil rights movement made it possible for Ray
to murder King. And ultimately the FBI still must share
some o f the blame for that. Sadly, this will be more than
enough to fuel the conspiracy theorist’s cherished
fantasy that anybody and everybody but Ray killed
King.
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S -l 11 \
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