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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2019)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | AUGUST 17, 2019 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR | 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Govern- ment for a redress of grievances. “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800) USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2019 © Siuslaw News Siuslaw News Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com. Jenna Bartlet Ned Hickson Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Multimedia Sales Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Dis- play classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to pub- lication; Regular classified ads, Thursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Display classified ads, Wednesday 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $79; 6-month in-county, $56; 10-week subscription, $25; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription, $102; 6-month out- of-county, $69; 10-week subscription, $35; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $134; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Letters to the Editor policy Biggest challenge to ending gun violence? Political will (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint sub- missions on this and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspectives.) The New York Times re- cently pointed out U.S. mass shootings cannot be explained by a violent cul- ture, racial divisions or mental health. A more plausible explanation: America has more guns in pri- vate hands than people: 120.5 per 100 people. Canada, by com- parison, has 34.7 guns per 100 people. Americans — about 4.4 percent of the world’s population — own 42 percent of the world’s guns, more than all civilians combined in 25 other countries. Definitions of mass shooting vary. Defined as three or more victims in a single incident, there have been 294 mass shootings in the U.S. so far in 2019. However defined, from Sandy Hook to El Paso, “assault-style” rifles are the weapon of choice of America’s mass shooters. Domestic assault-style rifles are derived from the Colt Ar- malite AR-15 (military M16). They (and foreign imports such as the Russian AK-47) were re- stricted by the Federal Assault Weapons Ban from 1994 to 2004, when the law sunset and was not renewed. From the expiration of Colt’s patents to 2015, the number of Guest Viewpoint By Arnold Buchman Florence AR-15 style variants and knock- offs increased dramatically. Because of this wide variety, estimates of the total number of assault-style rifles in private ownership varies widely. The numbers are uncertain in part because the ATF does not break out state-level ownership by category. But, the most con- servative estimates put the num- ber in the 3 to 5 million range within the total of more than 300 million firearms owned by Americans. Gun violence may be explained by mental illness and video games. Maybe it is controllable by background checks, waiting periods and red flag laws. But as we wait for our politi- cians to enact these “solutions,” assault-style weapons remain readily obtainable. Enough so that any suggestion the number can be effectively reduced is dis- missed as impossible. Australia did so after a mass killing in 2016 with ban-and- buy-back legislation — and has not experienced a mass killing since. Earlier this year after a similar tragedy, New Zealand did the same. Neither country’s programs involve police knocking down doors. Is it worth a try here? Ban-and-buy-back is not a sil- ver bullet. Nevertheless, the Dayton shooter killed 10 and wounded 26 in just 30 seconds! Had he not been armed with an assault-style rifle (and a 100-round maga- zine) the casualty count certainly would have been a lot lower. The challenge of attempting to take assault-style rifles out of circulation is to be measured by the cost of El Paso, Dayton and the 294-and-counting mass shootings we have experienced since 2019 began. The challenge we face is political will, not the Manhattan Project or the moon landing. Is it worth a try? You decide. The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the edi- tor 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 name and city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300 words. Letters are sub- ject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of let- ters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumen- tative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or documented will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside the Siuslaw News readership area will only be pub- lished at the discretion of the editor. Political/Election Letters: 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) En- sure any information about a candidate is accu- rate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) Explain the reasons to support candidates based on personal experience and perspective rather than partisanship and cam- paign-style rhetoric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publish- er, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Email 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 Oregon 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 (4th 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@ oregonlegislature.gov State Rep. Caddy McKeown (Dist. 9) 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1409 Email: rep.caddymckeown @oregonlegislature.gov 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
