4 A
❘ S ATURDAY
EDITION
❘ MARCH 3 , 2018
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
NRA is part of solution, not problem
As I read the gun control
editorials in the Feb. 28 edi-
tion of Siuslaw News, there
was little to think about. It
seems that folks can — and
do — get worked up over
what will turn out to be noth-
ing, because that is what it
will be.
We can start with talk of
the public heath crisis. I
agree that we most certainly
do have one. However, it is
facilitated by current laws
that restrict intervention
and/or incarceration of the
mentally ill who have a histo-
ry of being a danger to others
or themselves.
Instead of addressing the
problem, organizations such
as the ACLU and others have
left them to fend for them-
selves with little or no sup-
port programs. As a result,
we are now seeing how the
rules touted as preventing
discrimination have ham-
pered police, sheriffs, the
FBI and school authorities
from intervening even when
disturbing conduct is report-
ed because information isn’t
being shared.
I have to wonder if these
agencies had been able to do
the jobs they were hired for,
whether the tragic situation
in Parkland, Fla., could have
been avoided.
Another letter writer
seemed confused about the
difference between automatic
and semi-automatic
weapons. Fully automatic
weapons have been banned
in this country by two federal
laws since 1935. The only
way to get one legally is with
a Class 3 license and a whole
lot of money. That’s because
the ban on production of
these weapons in the 1960s
has driven the cost to over
$20,000.
That, in addition to the
extensive, mandatory FBI
background check required
to purchase such a weapon
makes it unreachable for
people believe them.
For instance, the right to
drive a car. There is no such
right in our Constitution.
Driving is a privilege that
can be revoked for any rea-
son. Gun ownership, on the
other hand, is a right guaran-
teed by our Constitution.
Some think the NRA’s con-
GUEST VIEWPOINT
B Y D AVID E CKHARDT
F LORENCE RESIDENT AND NRA L IFE M EMBER
most folks.
However, the semi-auto-
matic weapons ban passed by
Congress in 1994 expired in
2004 in accordance with the
law’s sunset provision. And
when it came up for renewal,
it was found by the govern-
ment’s own agencies that it
had in effect made little or no
difference. As such, it was
not renewed.
As for the NRA represent-
ing gun makers, as a Life
Member I can assure you that
is just plain false.
The
National
Rifle
Association (NRA) repre-
sents the many Americans
who feel as we do and con-
tribute to our cause, which is
the unfettered preservation of
the Second Amendment.
The gun manufactures are
represented by the National
Shooting Sports foundation
(www.nssf.org). It seems that
so many folks who know lit-
tle to nothing about firearms
and the Second Amendment
are the ones saying the most
outrageous things and, sadly,
cern over entering the slip-
pery slope of confiscation is
an overreaction.
Those folks conveniently
ignore history and would like
everyone else to do the same
by saying it can never happen
here. While I sincerely hope
they are right, it’s not a risk
many Americans are willing
to take.
This week was my time to
take the Hand Gun Safety
Course, which is a very com-
prehensive course held in
cooperation
with
the
Florence Police Department.
One of those participating
in the class was a retired
Florence teacher. As you
might guess, the Florida
shooting came up in conver-
sation. Suffice it to say, the
Florida shooter is lucky our
teacher wasn’t there. I say
this because I know a few
former teachers and law
enforcement officers who
would have no problem car-
rying in class. To me, it
makes perfect sense consid-
ering the alternative, which
was made clear in Florida.
In the event of an active
shooter in our school, provid-
ing teachers with the choice
of being the first line of
defense when every second
counts just makes sense.
As a life-long shooter and
gun owner, I’d like to suggest
some common sense changes
we can not only institute but
agree on in order to address
the issue:
1. Get rid of those rapid
fire devices. There are a few.
2. Strengthen the back-
ground check system, it’s
good but it can be better.
3. As for increasing the
age to buy a rifle to 21, I’m
not convinced that would do
any good. Keep in mind, we
do accept and admit 18-year-
olds in the military and give
them access to weapons
much more lethal than an
AR-15.
4. Make it mandatory by
law that every state manage
and produce, as part of back-
ground checks, all reports
pertaining to an individual’s
history of mental illness
when it endangers others or
themselves.
5. Do the same for all mil-
itary branches.
6. Enforce mandatory sen-
tencing guidelines for any
state or military authority
that fails to comply.
7. Make any failure to per-
form your duty as a law
enforcement or military per-
sonnel that results in the
death of children (under 18)
life in prison or, in states and
instances where applicable,
death.
Worshiping guns contradicts Christian ideals
I
t has happened again. Of
course it has. And it will
continue to happen.
And again and again and
again…
We as a nation are infatu-
ated with gun culture, and we
seem to worship the Second
Amendment more than we do
The Bible or Jesus. What
does it say about us as a
nation when sales of assault
rifles soar, not decline, in the
days following an attack like
the one that occurred at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
High School in Parkland,
Fla.?
I’m not saying that my
religion, or anyone else’s for
that matter, should dictate
our gun policy; but for a
nation that claims so loudly
to be Christian, there certain-
ly seems to be a disconnect
between the faith we profess
and the actions we commit.
In the five years since
Sandy Hook, 168 people
(mostly children) have been
killed in our nation’s schools,
and hundreds more have
been injured. Since Sandy
Hook, over 1,700 people
have been killed in mass
shootings across our nation,
from Orlando, Fla., to San
Bernardino, Calif. to Las
Vegas, Nev., and many points
in between.
And yet, while mass
shootings get all the head-
lines, they only tell half the
story. Almost overlooked in
the background, away from
most of the public outcry,
170,000 people have lost
their lives to gun violence in
that same period — an esti-
mate considered conserva-
tive by many.
Imagine my dismay when,
on Monday, Feb. 19, just
days after the latest tragedy
in Parkland, I learned that
our local Boys and Girls
Club affiliate in Florence,
was raffling off a 9mm semi-
automatic pistol with an 18
round magazine as part of a
raffles is the AR-15.
Not far away from here, a
girls softball team in Dallas,
Ore., has decided to move
forward with their plans to
raffle off such a weapon.
I find this offensive.
Raffling off any firearm,
assault style or not, is cer-
tainly not appropriate for any
GUEST VIEWPOINT
B Y R EV . R OBERT B ARRETT
Y ACHATS
fundraiser for its program.
Perhaps dismay is not a
strong enough word.
It would be more accurate
to say that I was sick.
Shocked.
Disgusted.
Even more repulsive was
my subsequent learning that
countless other organizations
across our nation are current-
ly
conducting
similar
fundraisers.
Please don’t get me wrong,
I am not opposed to the
Second Amendment. But I
would argue that we need to
tighten up background
checks and keep military
type assault weapons out of
the hands of ordinary citi-
zens.
But that is not my point
here.
While the flag is still at
half-mast for the victims of
the carnage in Florida, youth
organizations across the
country are offering gun raf-
fles as a means to raise
money for their organiza-
tions. Quite often, the
weapon of choice for these
organization that exists to
enhance the lives of our
nation’s young people.
It is not only insensitive
and inappropriate, it is irre-
sponsible, particularly in a
nation where guns are now
the third-leading cause of
death amongst children under
the age of 19.
It is irresponsible when
eight children a day are dying
as a result of gun violence; it
is irresponsible when 2 mil-
lion children are living in
homes with an unlocked gun
accessible to them; it is irre-
sponsible when 89 percent of
all unintentional childhood
shooting deaths occur in the
home.
And it is irresponsible in
an age when school shoot-
ings have become an almost
daily occurrence.
We as people of faith have
a clarion call to protect the
poorest and most vulnerable
in our society. Our varied
faith traditions teach us to
seek the peace and welfare of
the city, call us to love our
neighbor, and implore us to
cherish human dignity.
Can there be any disagree-
ment that our children are our
nation’s future and our most
valuable asset?
At the same time, our chil-
dren are amongst the most
vulnerable in our society.
Our love affair with guns
is a moral issue. Gun vio-
lence disproportionately tar-
gets the youngest and the
poorest amongst us. Our
infatuation boarders on idol
worship, and it is an affront
to God.
The students at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High
School were not yet born
when a gunman opened fire
on students in Columbine,
Colo. They have grown up in
a generation where gun vio-
lence is commonplace and
active shooter drills have
become the norm. They have
watched time and time again,
as our legislators have
offered their “thoughts and
prayers,” while doing little
else to keep them safe — not
even after 20 first-graders
were killed at Sandy Hook
Elementary
School,
in
Newtown, Conn.
Is it any wonder that stu-
dents across the nation have
raised their collective voices
to say, #NoMore? Perhaps
this generation of young peo-
ple will be the ones to galva-
nize the community and gen-
erate the moral outrage nec-
essary to enact sensible legis-
lation once and for all.
God knows our nation’s
religious leaders have failed
on this account.
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
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228-3997
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