COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MARCH 28, 2018 9A
Guns
Continued from A1
dating back to the 1970s and
there was an effort in the 1980s
to resurrect the former. There’s
never been a school shooting
in Cottage Grove but nearly 20
years ago and 27 miles away,
a gunman killed two students
at Thurston High School in
Springfi eld. The killer was a
gun owner. So was the shoot-
er responsible for the Sandy
Hook massacre in Connecticut
that killed 26 including 20 kin-
dergarteners. Both boys were
familiar with fi rearms and had
been to shooting ranges, learn-
ing how to handle the tools. It
only added to the pile of ques-
tions left behind after the shoot-
ing in Parkland, Florida on
Feb. 14 where the shooter, who
killed 17 people, was also a gun
owner. Is it the guns? Is it the
kids? Is it us?
*
Cottage Grove City Coun-
cilor Mike Fleck moved to Or-
egon from California when he
was 16. While his parents are
both “adamantly against guns”
Fleck, who attended McKenzie
High School, began going hunt-
ing because it was the thing to
do. That thing to do has become
a lifelong hobby that he has
passed down to his two sons.
“It’s so engrained in what we
do. We go over east, we camp,
we go target shooting. It’s just
you know, part of that way of
life. But I’m at the point where
you know if it’s going to save
lives, I’m willing to consider,”
Fleck said about the possibility
of reducing clip sizes in guns.
With any law changes, he is just
looking to fi nd a place where
the two sides of the debate can
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see eye-to-eye.
“On any subject you’re going
to have people on both extremes
and so I think the core here
though is to fi nd out what in
the middle can we all live with.
Consensus being not that we all
love a solution but we can all
live with it.”
*
In February of this year, Gov-
ernor Kate Brown signed a law
that banned individuals con-
victed of domestic abuse from
buying or owning guns. The
legislation closed what had been
dubbed “the boyfriend loop-
hole” after it closed a gap in the
existing state law that allowed
individuals not living with their
partner, but still convicted of
domestic abuse, to purchase and
own fi rearms. It was the fi rst
gun control legislation in the
country to be signed after the
Parkland shooting. Since then,
further legislation has been
proposed that would ban as-
sault-style rifl es in the state in-
cluding the AR-15, the weapon
of choice in Parkland and Sandy
Hook as well as the Las Vegas
concert shooting in 2017 that
killed 58 people and the 2016
Florida nightclub shooting that
killed 49.
“A lot of hunters are moving
to the AR,” Gowing said. Why?
Because according to Gowing,
it’s lighter, more comfortable.
“If you’re hunting elk, that’s a
700, 800-pound animal and you
have to carry it out of the woods,
you don’t want a 12-pound gun
you have to carry out too,” he
said.
*
Worship
Directory
DRAIN:
HOPE U.M.C.
131 W “A” St. Drain, OR
541-315-1617
Pastor: Lura Kidner-Miesen
Fellowship & Song: 11:30am
Potluck Lunch: 12:00pm
Worship: 12:30pm
Cottage Grove Faith Center
33761 Row River Rd.
541-942-4851
Lead Pastor: Kevin Pruett
www.cg4.tv
Full Childrenʼs Ministry available
Service: 10:00am
Delight Valley
Church of Christ
33087 Saginaw Rd. East
541-942-7711
Pastor: Bob Friend
Two Services:
9am - Classic in the Chapel
10:30am - Contemporary in the
Auditorium
COTTAGE GROVE:
6th & Gibbs Church of Christ
195 N. 6th St. • 541-942-3822
Pastor: Aaron Earlywine
Youth & Families Pastor:
Seth Bailey
Service times: 9am & 10:30am
Sunday School: 9am for all ages
Christian Education
Nursery for pre-k - 3rd Grade
www.6thandgibbs.com
First Presbyterian Church
3rd and Adams St
541-942-4479
Pastor: Karen Hill
Worship: 10:00am
Sunday School: 10:00am
www.cgpresbynews.com
Calvary Baptist Church
77873 S 6th St • 541-942-4290
Pastor: Riley Hendricks
Sunday School: 9:45am
Worship: 11:00am
The Journey: Sunday 5:00pm
Praying Thru Life: Wednesday
6:00pm
Calvary Chapel Cottage Grove
1447 Hwy 99 (Village Plaza)
541-942-6842
Pastor: Jeff Smith
Two Services on Sun:
9am & 10:45am
Youth Group Bible Study
Child Care 10:45am Service Only
www.cgcalvary.org
Center for Spiritual Living
Cottage Grove
700 Gibbs Ave.
(Community Center)
Rev. Bobby Lee
Meets Sunday 3:00 p.m.
cslcottagegrove@gmail.com
Church of Christ
420 Monroe St • 541-942-8565
Sunday Service: 10:30am
Cottage Grove Bible Church
1200 East Quincy Avenue
541-942-4771
Pastor:Bob Singer
Worship 11am
Sunday School:9:45am
AWANA age 3-8th Grade,
Wednesdays Sept-May, 6:30pm
www.cgbible.org
Hope In The Grove
700 E. Gibbs • 401-855-5668
Pastor: Wayne Husk
Sunday services:
Worship: 9am
Coffee Fellowship: 10:15am
Bible Study: 10:30am
Hope Fellowship
United Pentecostal Church
100 S. Gateway Blvd.
541-942-2061
Pastor: Dave Bragg
Worship: 11:00am Sunday
Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday
www.hopefellowshipupc.com
“FINDING HOPE IN YOUR LIFE”
Living Faith Assembly
467 S. 10th St. • 541-942-2612
Worship Services Sundays: 9a & 11a
Youth Worship Sundays: 11a (all ages
welcome)
Mondays: 5:30p (6th-12th grades)
Non-Denominational
Church of Christ
1041 Pennoyer Ave
541-942-8928
Preacher: Tony Martin
Sunday Bible Study:10:00am
Sunday Worship:10:50am & 5:30pm
www.pennoyeravecoc.com
Old Time Gospel Fellowship
103 S. 5th St. • 541-942-4999
Pastor: Jim Edwards
Sunday Service: 10:00am
Join in Traditional Christian Worship
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
and St. Philip Benizi
Catholic Churches
1025 N. 19th St.
541-942-3420
Father: Joseph Hung Nguyen
Holy Mass:
Tue-Thu: 8:30am; Sat:5:30pm
Sun: 10:30am
Confession: After daily mass,
Sat. 4-5pm or by appointment
St. Philip Benizi, Creswell
552 Holbrock Lane
541-895-8686, Sunday: 8:30am
St. Andrews Episcopal Church
1301 W. Main • 541-767-9050
Rev. Lawrence Crumb
“Church with the fl ags.”
Worship: Sunday 10:30am
All Welcome
Seventh-day Adventist Church
820 South 10th Street
541-942-5213
Pastor: Kevin Miller
Bible Study: Saturday, 9:15 am
Worship Service: Saturday, 10:40
Mid-week Service: Wednesday, 1:00
Trinity Lutheran Church
6th & Quincy • 541-942-2373
Pastor: James L. Markus
Sunday School & Adult Education
9:15am
Sunday Worship 10:30 am
Comm. Kitchen Free Meal Tue & Thur
5:00pm TLC Groups
tlccg.com
United Methodist Church
334 Washington • 541-942-3033
Pastor:Lura Kidner-Miesen
Worship: 10:30am
Comm. Dinner (Adults $5,
Kids Free)
1st & 3rd Monday 5-6:00pm
umcgrove.org
“VICTORY” Country Church
913 S. 6th Street • 541-942-5913
Pastor: Barbara Dockery
Worship Service: 10:00am
Message: “WE BELIEVE IN
MIRACLES”
After every shot, there’s a
puff of smoke and a tinge of
gun powder in the air. The four
clay pigeons Gowing set out are
still standing after two shooters.
It takes about 30 minutes and
four different guns for three of
the four to fall. In between shots
there’s reminders to keep the
gun pointed away from people
and assurances that every gun
that’s handed to a new shooter
is unloaded. Safety fi rst, Gow-
ing says.
“There’s a misconception
about the AR because it looks
meaner but it’s the same gun,”
he said, pointing out a be-
nign-looking rifl e that shoots
the same ammunition as the AR.
“It’s not a high-powered rifl e,”
he said.
He has the same gun used at
Thurston, the gun he killed his
fi rst deer with, a handgun that
his wife shot so well with, he
bought her one just like it—but
purple instead the same NRA
emblazoned gray his is. In the
stockpile that made it up into
the woods, at least two of the
fi rearms would be banned under
the proposed legislation in Or-
egon.
There’s talk of how that would
interfere with generations of
tradition. One of the would-be
banned rifl es is something “al-
most everyone” starts on. The
conversation is the same one
that happens around kitchen
tables and in between re-loads
during target practices every
time another school shooting is
reported. It’s not the guns, it’s
the people. But we’re the same
people we’ve always been.
But it’s the video games. But
they have video games in Lon-
don. They have video games in
Australia and in Asia has video
games too. It’s a lack of respect
for the guns, a lack of respect
for people. Drunk driving kills
people but we don’t ban alco-
hol. We continue to regulate
cars as society and technology
changes, why not fi rearms? My
guns are locked up. It’s tradition
to learn to shoot and survival
to learn to hunt. But the kids
responsible for these shootings
aren’t hunting; animals. It’s the
mental health. There’s not one
solution.
Mayor Jeff Gowing illustrates the difference in ammunition
*
“I think there are reasonable
gun laws, absolutely I support.
I think background checks
should be everywhere. Gun
shows should not be exempt;
I think there should be back-
ground checks everywhere. I
think that the state, if they’re
going to require somebody pass
it, makes sure that it actually is
done in the timeframe. I don’t
necessarily like wait periods but
I suppose if that was necessary
to make sure that everybody
was checked then I’m okay with
that,” Fleck said.
There are currently 35 laws in
Oregon that govern gun owner-
ship, possession, sales and use.
There are no regulations sur-
rounding ammunition. To buy a
gun, residents must submit to a
background check.
“If there’s something that
should prohibit them from get-
ting a gun, it will come up based
on that form,” Gowing said of
the paperwork potential gun
owners must fi ll out.
Reports noted that the Park-
land shooter was the subject
of multiple 911 calls related to
violent behavior and had posted
his intentions on social media.
He legally purchased the fi re-
arm the year before the shooting
when he was 18-years-old.
*
Valeria Clarke is a counselor
at South Lane Mental Health
and has helped developed a
program that sees counselors in
every facility in the South Lane
School District. She has never
worked with a child who ex-
pressed the intention of carrying
out a school shooting.
“If I had a concern that they
were a danger to themselves or
were planning to harm someone
or someones, I’m mandated to
report that to the proper author-
ities,” she said. That authority
could range from the local po-
lice to the Department of Health
and Human Resources. What
happens to that report after it’s
made and how it’s entered into
the system responsible for pro-
viding information for back-
ground checks is out of Clarke’s
hands.
Since the latest shooting,
South Lane Mental Health
hasn’t launched specialized
treatment but continues to be a
constant presence in the school
where Clarke says she’s seen
a difference in her years as a
counselor.
“When, as adults, if a spree
of crime is happening in a com-
munity, all of us feel a lot more
scared about going places, of
being places,” she said. “It’s a
bit simplistic thinking but that’s
how our brains work. The place
they thought was safe, isn’t
safe. Kids get killed at school so
school isn’t safe anymore.”
*
“Let’s go back to the high
school scenario when Jeff
(Gowing) and I were young,
there were rifl es in the backs of
our cars and we would never,
it was never even conceivable
back then that somebody would
shoot people,” Fleck said. “How
did we get there? Where did this
change? And what can we do to
solve it?”
Gowing, like so many others,
doesn’t know the answer either
but is an advocate of educating
people about fi rearms and
cultivating the understanding
that it’s not the gun, it’s the
people.
“Cain killed Abel with a
rock. It’s something mankind’s
always been good at, killing
people.”
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