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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 2017)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Friday, November 10, 2017 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor MARISSA WILLIAMS Regional Advertising Director MARCY ROSENBERG Circulation Manager JANNA HEIMGARTNER Business Office Manager MIKE JENSEN Production Manager EO MEDIA GROUP East Oregonian • The Daily Astorian • Capital Press • Hermiston Herald Blue Mountain Eagle • Wallowa County Chieftain • Chinook Observer • Coast River Business Journal Oregon Coast Today • Coast Weekend • Seaside Signal • Cannon Beach Gazette Eastern Oregon Real Estate Guide • Eastern Oregon Marketplace • Coast Marketplace OnlyAg.com • FarmSeller.com • Seaside-Sun.com • NorthwestOpinions.com • DiscoverOurCoast.com OUR VIEW OTHER VIEWS How to reduce shootings I A salute to soldiers Happy Veterans Day to everyone wars in four different eras. And go online to find video and audio who spent time in this nation’s excerpts of one-on-one interviews as armed forces — who served our well. country both at home and abroad. It’s useful to read those stories Even non-veterans get to and sit in on those conversations, celebrate a happy holiday weekend, especially in this hyper-partisan, thanks in no small part to the politicized world. The military is millions of Americans who fought one of the few remaining institutions for our freedom and our safety. We that Americans of all political stripes all owe them a debt of gratitude. have faith in and Last year we support. And that asked readers to take time to listen American active seems critical during moment when to veterans, to hear duty personnel a political rivals can’t their stories and even agree on the seek their input. remain in same facts or the As we have moved dangerous same media sources, to an all-volunteer something service, active outposts around even as inane as the military personnel Americanism of the have become a the world. NFL. less visible part It goes without of our society and saying that veterans themselves their sacrifice no longer equally touches a cross-section of American should be free to give their opinion on everything, especially on military households. That’s dangerous — and political matters. Their word some demographics and families carries weight — they should run bear the brunt of the burden while others remain completely unaffected. for office and influence policy. Remember, the First Amendment That breeds division, and not applies to all of us equally. everyone having equal skin in the But this country has been blessed game. since its founding with an apolitical Yet despite a lower profile, military, removed from the winds of American active duty personnel remain in dangerous outposts around Washington, D.C., defended from the constant sniping of political the world. The Afghanistan War rivals. It must continue that way, is now our nation’s longest, and with distance — but also with additional troops are planned for deployment there. Service members oversight — from a democratic remain in places like Iraq and South system. As we celebrate our 99th Korea, where danger lurks close by, Veterans Day, we should find ways as well as in lesser-known locales to appreciate the sacrifice of all like Niger where four soldiers were veterans of all political stripes, who killed just last month. put their personal feelings second to We offer a full pullout in the the good of the country as a whole. holiday paper with a cross-section Perhaps it will inspire us to do the of local veteran stories. It includes same in our daily lives and in our a group conversation with four area communities. men who served in four different Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of publisher Kathryn Brown, managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, and opinion page editor Tim Trainor. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. LETTERS POLICY The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com. t has happened yet again: Inevitably, Gun enthusiasts often protest: Cars predictably, fatefully, another mass kill about as many people as guns, shooting. On Sunday, a gunman and we don’t ban them! No, but shot dead 26 people in a Texas automobiles are a model for the public church. These episodes are peculiarly health approach I’m suggesting. We American tragedies, and what’s don’t ban cars, but we work hard to particularly heartbreaking is that they regulate them — and limit access to aren’t shocking. People all over the them — so as to reduce the death toll world become furious and try to harm Nicholas they cause. This has reduced the death others, but only in the United States Kristof rate per 100 million miles driven by do we suffer such mass shootings so 95 percent since 1921. What would a Comment regularly; only in the United States do public health approach look like for we lose one person every 15 minutes guns if it were modeled after cars? to gun violence. So let’s not There is a shocking lack just mourn the dead; let’s not of research on guns just lower flags and make One challenge is that for somber speeches. Let’s act. a public health approach, In particular, I suggest trying we need careful evidence a new approach to reducing of what works to reduce gun violence — a public deaths, at what cost. Yet health strategy. there’s simply a scandalous America has more guns lack of research on gun than any other country violence, largely because the The first step is to National Rifle Association understand the scale of the is extremely hostile to such challenge America faces: The United States research and Congress rolls over. has more than 300 million guns — roughly A way forward: On some issues, one for every citizen — and stands out as well majorities agree for its gun death rates. At the other extreme, It may sometimes seem hopeless to make Japan has less than one gun per 100 people, progress on gun violence, especially with the and typically has fewer than 10 gun deaths a NRA holding Congress hostage. But I’m more year in the entire country. optimistic. The liberal approach is ineffective. Use a Look, we all agree on some kinds of curbs public health approach instead on guns. Nobody believes that people should Frankly, liberal opposition to guns has be able to have an anti-aircraft gun in the back often been ineffective, and sometimes yard. So the question isn’t whether we will counterproductive. The 10-year ban on assault restrict firearms, but where to draw the line weapons accomplished little, partly because and precisely which ones to restrict. definitions were about cosmetic features like ■ bayonet mounts (and partly because even Nicholas Kristof grew up on a sheep and before the ban, such guns were used in only 2 cherry farm in Yamhill. Kristof, a columnist percent of crimes). The left sometimes focuses for The New York Times since 2001, writes on “gun control,” which scares off gun owners op-ed columns that appear twice a week. He and leads to more gun sales. A better framing won the Pulitzer Prize two times, in 1990 and is “gun safety” or “reducing gun violence.” 2006. Only in the United States do we suffer such mass shootings so regularly. YOUR VIEWS In wolf killing, trust account from hunter in the field I read in your newspaper the opinion of a retired biologist of the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife doubting the account of the hunter who shot and killed a female wolf while hunting elk in the Starkey Unit. Evidently, the wolf was shot through the chest as stated in the article. This indicates to me that the wolf was not coming directly at the hunter but was at a perpendicular angle at the moment of the shot. I don’t believe that a high-powered round such as those used for elk hunting would deflect a bit going though a body of wolf so that one could come to the same conclusion of the retired biologist. However, the hunter states that the wolf was coming directly at him at a measured distance of 81 feet — it is not stated how fast the wolf was moving but it couldn’t be but a matter of a few seconds before the wolf was upon him if it continued on its path. Under the same circumstances, I would do exactly as he did and shoot. Yelling, whistling or offering candy to dangerous wild animals that may or may not be rabid would be the very last thought that would occur to me. So how do we re-counsel the hunter’s version (by the way, he was the only person there) and the fact of the bullet wound that the wolf was presenting a side view to the hunter when he fired? Most rifle scopes are of a variable power of magnification — 3 to 9 power is common. The hunter states that all he could see was a furry mass through his rifle scope when he fired. If the rifle scope was set on a higher magnification level that is very plausible. I surmise that the wolf tried to avoid the hunter and turned 90 degrees at the moment of the shot. This allows the hunter’s statement of the incident and the facts of the matter to jibe. May or may not be true but it is better to realize there may be different versions of the same incident. Bill Timmermann Helix Support for Bellinger to lead Westland Irrigation District I am writing to urge patrons of Westland Irrigation District to vote to re-elect Jack Bellinger to the board of directors. Jack embodies attributes that district patrons value. Jack is a second generation Umatilla County farmer and has an informed understanding of the region. As a farmer and business owner raising his own family in the area, he understands the importance of water to sustain the local economy. As a result of his extensive background as an irrigator and director for Westland, his knowledge of water and water law is excellent. He has been a supporter of efforts to secure a long-term water plan for community regeneration for years. Most recently, he supported the Central Project, which would have made valuable Columbia River water available to Westland patrons. Michael Atkinson Hermiston In the face of ongoing litigation, it has never been more important to elect a representative who has a solid knowledge of how Westland is managed and run. At a time when misunderstandings run rampant and there is lack of well-vetted, accurate information being perpetuated by a minority of patrons, it is critical that we elect an individual who has a well-documented track record of making informed and beneficial decisions for Westland. Jack Bellinger will amplify the truth and insure a continuity for Westland to move forward. Dan McCarty Echo Due to expensive and misguided litigation against the district, Westland needs an experienced, knowledgeable, and honest leader now more than ever. When the Umatilla Basin Water Commission was testing recharge efforts, Jack Bellinger voluntarily allowed monitoring wells to be drilled on his property. He understood the importance of recharge as a possible supplement to Westland’s water supply. Westland is the only Umatilla Project irrigation district in the Umatilla Basin that does not have access to Columbia River water (Hermiston, Stanfield, and West Extension Irrigation Districts all have Columbia River exchanges in place). Jack has demonstrated interest in securing Westland’s future, and has a record of action to back it up. Robert Emert Echo
