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