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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2019)
4A • COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • JANUARY 30, 2019 The First Amendment O PINION Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridg- ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition their Government for a redress of greivences. Letters to the Editor Policy Th e Sentinel 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 name and city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside Th e Sentinel readership area will only be published at the discretion of the editor. Political/Election Letters: Proposed bill is really Portland-area-politics gun grab (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submissions on this and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspectives.) Senate Bill 501, sponsored by Senator Rob Wagner of Tualatin and Representative Andrea Salinas of Lake Oswego, is a bill that all supporters of the Second Amendment should oppose. Th is bill is clearly an attempt to ram big-city, Portland-area ideas on gun control down the throats of rural Ore- gonians. Th is bill would, among other things, require law-abiding Orego- nians to petition a politician (such as the county sheriff ) for a permit before being allowed to exercise their Con- stitutional right to purchase a fi rearm under the Second Amendment. Should the sheriff decide to grant the request, he or she could then charge a “reasonable fee” for this permit. One can only imagine what will inevitably become the ever-increas- ing cost of these “reasonable fees.” Law-abiding Oregon residents who are of sound mind and otherwise legally permitted to own a fi rearm should not have to petition elected offi cials to purchase one. I can see no rational nexus between this foolish and ill-advised bill and any measurable reduction in gun violence. It appears to me to simply be another power grab by Portland-area politi- Guest Viewpoint By Stan Easter Cottage Grove cians. Keep in mind that in most cases background checks are already manda- tory for gun purchases. So under this new proposal, even if you can pass a background check, you would still have to petition an elected offi cial to do what you have a legal right to do. In short, this bill does not target criminals, only the law abiding. Additionally, the bill prohibits law-abiding Oregonians from purchas- ing more than 20 rounds of ammuni- tion per month. When my stepson, my wife and I go to the range to practice shooting, we typically fi re a few hun- dred rounds minimum. Th is law would render an enjoyable, family based activity nearly impossible. Th e bill also mandates a background check to purchase ammunition. Can you imagine how impossible it will be to have background checks done through an already overburdened system if this law goes into eff ect? Not to mention how the costs of these background checks will certainly over burden many low- and middle-income families. SB 501 also bans “high capacity magazines,” which the bill defi nes as “any magazine holding more than 5 rounds.” Th is is sheer nonsense. Talk to any group of experienced, trained, law-abiding shooters and they will tell you that a "high capacity" magazine is one that holds more than 30 rounds. In fact, 20- or 30-round magazines are considered by most to be “standard capacity” magazines. I will be contacting State Senator Arnie Roblan and State Representative Caddy McKeown to express my op- position to this bill, and I hope others will too. I’m sure that gun grabbers are fl ood- ing state representatives’ offi ces with letters in favor of this power grab . LETTER Nothing but good things to say about hospital My husband went to the walk-in clinic at Cottage Grove Hospital but it was too full, so he was told to go to the E.R., which he did. He was admitted to the hospital to receive care for kidney and heart conditions. It was so comforting to be there because it was like being at home. Th e nurses greeted us with smiles and words of recognition. We felt safe and cared for. Th e nurses and Dr. Hadtke were great about discussing my husband's condition and including me in what was being done for him. Two volunteers were pos- itive encouragers Th ey were so helpful with providing a wheelchair from the car to the doctor's offi ces. Jeanne and Caroline are valuable volunteers. My husband and I have nothing but positive things to say about Cottage Grove Hospital for the last 15 years of care there. —Karon Hills Cottage Grove 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 accurate, 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 campaign-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 publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Send letters to: nhickson@cgsentinel.com or cmay@cgsentinel.com HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS Oregon state representatives Oregon federal representatives • Sen. Floyd Prozanski District 4 State Senator PO Box 11511 Eugene, Ore. 97440 Phone: 541-342-2447 Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@ state.or.us • Rep. Cedric Hayden Republican District 7 State Representative 900 Court St. NE Salem, Ore. 97301 Phone: 503-986-1407 Website: www.leg.state.or. us/hayden Email: rep.cedrichayden@ state.or.us • Rep. Peter DeFazio (House of Representatives) 405 East 8th Ave. #2030 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Email: defazio.house.gov/ contact/email-peter Phone: 541-465-6732 • Sen. Ron Wyden 405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Email: wyden.senate.gov Phone: (541) 431-0229 • Sen. Jeff Merkley Email: merkley.senate.gov Phone: 541-465-6750 C ottage G rove S entinel (541) 942-3325 Administration Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher Gary Manly, General Manager ..................................................... Ext. 1207 gmanly@cgsentinel.com Allison Miller, Multi-Media Sales Consultants .......................... 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