4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ NOVEMBER 8, 2017
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
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L ETTERS
LETTERS
B ETTER STUDY ON GUN
REGULATION
NEEDED
It’s been 30 days since the horrifying
mass shooting in Las Vegas.
Each time thoughts and prayers are
offered.
Each time people cry out for change.
Each time it is “too soon” to talk
about crafting even the simplest legisla-
tion that might prevent gun fatalities.
The pushback is always the same:
Criminals don’t follow the law; Guns
don’t kill people; Second Amendment
rights; Don’t punish the law abiding;
Enforce the laws we have.
So here we are, not one step closer to
even defining the particulars that could
move us towards legislation that would
reduce gun violence. Our current gun
laws have had such influence from the
gun lobby that even those that were
hard-fought do not really have the teeth
to provide the protection the majority of
citizens — who are not even gun own-
ers — desire.
For instance, the “bump stock” used
in Las Vegas, and other converters, are
only illegal if you actually have them in
the area of the gun. If you have a semi-
auto gun and a converter in the same
house — or worse have the converter
installed — you’ve committed a crime.
But if you keep the converters in a
different location it’s perfectly legal.
What kind of logic was used in creat-
ing that law?
Then there are the waiting periods
which are different in every state. Even
when the Brady Bill was enacted, it still
allowed states to substitute background
checks in place of the waiting period.
As a result, we still had no consistency
at a national level.
Another example are those who think
anyone experiencing domestic violence
is automatically protected with laws at
the federal level; except the lawmakers
strangely exempted boyfriends and
stalkers.
Some states do manage to listen to
the larger group of citizens who support
complete background checks, bump
stock bans, waiting periods and other
sensible gun restrictions.
Others states do not.
Recent letters to the editor come
down starkly on opposite sides of the
gun debate. With this hodge-podge of
legislation at the federal and state level,
it makes it impossible to know what
will work in the US.
That is why the most common sense
first-step at this point is to repeal the
Dickey Amendment and fund the
Centers for Disease Control to thor-
oughly study gun fatalities, gun legisla-
tion and prevention strategies.
It is clear that only empirical data
will lead to irrefutable solutions that
will be agreeable to all.
—Sandy Todd
Florence
B E CAREFUL WHAT YOU
WISH FOR WITH GUN LAWS
If waiting periods had an effect, one
should expect to see similar drops in
age brackets outside the 14-24 range.
There are no significant changes from
the 40 year slope.
The Brady Law went into effect Feb
28, 1994. Homicides for ages 14-17
remained unchanged for 1994, begin-
ning a steep decline in 1995 that contin-
ued until 2000, when the rate flattened.
The 18-24 age bracket peaked in
1991, dropped in 1992, peaked again
1993, dropped about 50 percent of the
1993 drop in 1994. then further dropped
in 1995 — continuing to decline until
1999, when the rate flattened.
There is simply too much noise in the
data to make the claim that waiting peri-
ods are effective. There are myriad
other factors which have an effect: eco-
nomics, enforcement, urbanization,
demographics, climate, etc. (See the
FBI National Incident-Based Reporting
System.)
Other than the extra violent decade
between 1990-2000, knives, blunt
objects and other methods account for
around 40 percent of homicides (FBI
Homicides by Weapon Type 1976-
2004).
Restricting firearm access did not
increase homicides by these alternate
methods as one might reasonably
expect. In fact, homicides by these
alternate methods began to decline well
before the implementation of the Brady
Law.
A 2000 study found that the imple-
mentation of the Brady Act was associ-
ated with “reductions in the firearm sui-
cide rate for persons aged 55 years or
older but not with reductions in homi-
cide rates or overall suicide rates.”
(Ludwig, Jens “Homicide and Suicide
Rates Associated With Implementation
of the Brady Handgun Violence
Prevention Act” by Ludwig, Jens, Aug.
2, 2000.)
Expecting Congress to do anything
worthwhile is a pipe dream.
The Weimar Republic passed gun
control laws to keep guns out of the
hands of the Nazis. When the Nazis
took power, they used those same laws
to disarm their opponents.
Regarding power, one would do well
to remember:
“Political power grows out of the bar-
rel of a gun.”
— Mao Zedong
Be careful what you wish for.
You just may get it.
— Ian Eales
Florence
A RE TURKEYS
REALLY A NECESSITY ?
It would be nice to have
Thanksgiving dinner among family and
friends. However, I have an issue with
Food Share wanting additional dona-
tions so it can give away 400 turkeys
while, meanwhile, local residents just
received their property tax statements
and noticed an increase in taxes.
Plus, there are all the other usual
expenses which seem to be increasing
as well.
With the setbacks of donations from
the local corporate entities (Safeway,
Three Rivers Casino), why not just use
the available monies to stock the pantry
for the upcoming winter season instead
of spending it on turkeys?
There are other Thanksgiving dinner
alternatives, such as the well-advertised
Florence Kiwanis Community Free
Thanksgiving dinner. I say this because
the Siuslaw News article (Florence
Food Share In Crisis, Nov. 4) leads me
to believe donations are drying up.
If that’s the case, maybe Food Share
needs to prioritize its resources to sur-
vive. This is the unfortunate risk of
depending on donations to support the
basic needs of some of our local popu-
lation.
—Virginia Reynolds
Florence
W E ’ LL MISS W ESLEY
Wesley Voth brightened our lives
with his observations of the natural
beauty “Upriver.”
Many times, he taught us about an
animal or plant we wanted to know. He
took us back to our roots in nature and
then gently — and with a unique humil-
ity — tried to lead us to our better
selves.
We will miss him.
— Jim and Jane Pittenger
Florence
TO THE
P OLICY
E DITOR
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor
as part of a community discussion of issues on the
local, state and national level.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or
typed letters must be signed. All letters need to
include full name, address and phone number; only
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of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on
space available and the volume of letters received.
Libelous, argumentative and anonymous letters
or poetry, or letters from outside our readership
area will only be published at the discretion of the
editor.
P OLITICAL /E LECTION L ETTERS :
Election-related letters must address pertinent or
timely issues of interest to our readers at-large.
Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing
campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2)
Ensure any information about a candidate is accu-
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candidates based on personal experience and per-
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Candidates themselves may not use the letters to
the editor column to outline their views and plat-
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As with all letters and advertising content, the
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general manager and editor, reserves the right to
reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above crite-
ria.
Send letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-
228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
( 4 th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
( Dist. 5 )
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
state.or.us
State Rep. Caddy
McKeown
( Dist. 9 )
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us