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Show A5 CLIPPER TODAY THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1999 Viewpoint n8a am mm Him defense sites purchased from the states (Article I, Section 8. Gause 17). The defense site land is acquired from a state by the consent or cession from that state.... The whole purpose of the U.S. Constitution was to set limits upon the federal government (and to a limited extent upon the states), but it was solved, but they can be solved, locally. The Environmentalists have alerted us to many concerns which we local citizens can wisely apply. It is the matter of control that this letter is stressing. Even the small I Neighborhood meetings a start in the right direction for cities As the Clipper and Clipper Today have talked to candidates for municipal positions, and now council pembers elect, there seems to be one recurring theme: lack of communication. Council victors have said their constituents constantly told them, as they made the rounds, that as residents they feel left out of what happens; they aren't notified when important public hearings are held in their own neighborhoods; they feel powerless to have any say in what happens in their neighborhood or town. That said, we happen to know that most of the cities make a concerted effort to alert their residents to vital issues: through regular newsletters, articles in the newspaper, scheduling of public meetings. But often, as they attempt to meet the letter of the law by printing a public notice in the paper or posting it on city hall s front door, people don't get the message. After all, who wants to sift through the small type in the newspaper to pore over those interesting legal notices? Or how many residents have the time to run to city hall every week or so to find out whats happening? More could be done, but we doubt that, in the vast majority of cases, it is the city governments trying to withhold information from their citizens. We have one suggestion that might open the channels of communication, at least a little: Why not host regular public meetings in various neighborhoods of your town? In Layton, it could mean holding a meeting at the local elementary school in each neighborhood. The same could be done in the other large communities. Flyers could be sent out, city council members and key staff people could attend, present pertinent information about issues of importance, and then time could be left open for the neighbors who hopefully attend the meeting to ask questions and comment. Notices could be sent to all the neighbors about the localized meetings, and then that would at least give residents a chance to meet and talk with their city officials. Gearfield tried a town meeting at city hall a few times, but never generated a large turnout. But the neighborhood concept is working well in at least one Utah city. Logan, where it is going into its second year. The mayor there instituted a program of visiting each neighborhood at least once, or usually twice, a year. Between 75 and 100 neighbors have shown up at every meeting, even though the neighborhoods vary greatly, in some cases. In a Hispanic neighborhood, an publicity was also published in interpreter was on hand and g Spanish. A handful of people did attend. That mayor comes with key city staff, including the police and fire chief, power superintendent, parks and recreation director, and others. He calls it one of the best things to ever have happened in his administration, and is regularly stopped by people w ho he met at those meetings people he otherwise would never have likely met. At least one councilman-elec- t wants to pursue a similar idea in Layton. That community, with 6().(X)0-plu- s residents, certainly would make sense for such a forum. But communication problems can exist in towns of 400, just as easily. We support neighborhood meetings as a way to build stronger communication with city councils, mayors, and their staffs. They are, at least, a start in the right direction. UNlYftSmS CET ms GOMEKT Off CUR Bb CKS MiD FIREKvCH MD HKiHWN5 MID FOOD A&MYi SKFEW STWtWre AU THE NAlYAND MR FORCE ' Leave today's gun laws as they are co-exi-st respect integrity and only thinks about what they can get out of any Editor Leave the current concealed laws alone. As a state we have had few problems from legal concealed situation. Maynard B. Morris, Kaysville macamocompuservv.com weapons owners. The problem comes from those who don't care Public should deckle what kind of law is passed. They want to make our Schools and Churches a free kill zone, ban guns in schools and churches. That way the crazies in the State will know where to go when they want to make a political statement with minimum of risk to themselv es. I don't remember anybody shooting up a police station. If we want to make our schools and churches safer, and do nothing to change our social climate, we can always emulate the facilities at the point of the mountain. And even there, there is violence inside the gun safety issues fence. 547-980- Fax: 0 547-137- Monday thru Friday eztalkclippertoday.com 4 published every Thursday and distributed to of residents Kaysville, Fruit Heights, Layton, Clearfield, Clinton, Syracuse, Sunset, West Point and South Weber. The views expressed in the letters and columns on this page are those of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the ownership, management or staff of Clipper Today. Clipper Today is Total circulation in excess of 38,000 copies. Publisher: R. Gail Stahle Editors: RolfD. Sales: Martin Ehman, Aaron Koecher, Tom Busselhrg Glauser, Judy Hammerschmidt Display advertising deadline: Friday, noon. Camera-read- y ad deadline: Monday, noon. Classified advertising deadline: Tuesday, 10 a.m. OPY i Don Obon, Bountiful Does. Low voter turnout is disturbing freedoms eroded, but when children are involved, we need to put them first and foremost. Federal gun laws requiring background checks are a necessity. Cindy Eulberg Creekside Elementary PTA president-elect State PTA Legislative Action Committee appointee deulbergburgoyne. com anyone? The truth of the matter is we are trying to solve a problem and looking at the wrong issues. Concealed weapon permit holders go through extensive background checks to get a permit. The background check is comparable to that of law enforcement officers. (Law enforcement has killed 12 people in Utah this year, concealed weapon holders haven't killed any). Firearms are a right, not a privilege Editor I have been informed that you're soliciting comments on gun control. Here are a few of my views: 1. Personal firearms are a constitu- tionally protected right (not a privi- citi A responsible, zen should never be curtailed in anyway or in any place from exercising that right.- , 3. If the right to carry a concealed weapon is hampered in certain areas i.e. schools, churches, etc. those areas WILL become killing grounds. 4. Even a cursory study of history and human behavior proves that, with a doubt, an armed society is a law-abidi- free-e- r society. 5. Any debate on the subject of should be approached on the basis of facts, not feelings. gun-contr- Though an inarticulate cliche, its still a fundamental truth When guns are outlawed, only out6. laws will have guns. Dell Hanks, Kaysville dellhimksyahoo.com An armed public brain-washe- shown that the more armed citizens in an area, the less violent crime they experience. Everywhere people have been allowed to carry-conceale- weapons the rate and number of violent crimes have gone down dramatically. The cities with the tightest gun control have the highest rates of murder and other violent crimes. We need to rid our schools of the silly fuzzy thinkers that are brainwashing our youth and sending them to the legislature to lobby to remov e reasonable protection from the schools. Charles E. Bradford, Bountifid tkbradnetworld.com Concealed weapons OX in public places . Editor After reading the article in the Clipper about the debate over The problem is that people who are criminally minded get weapons and kill people. I work in law enforcement and I have never seen a criminal stop to count how many laws he or she will break before committing a crime. Criminals, if they want to. will get a gun and use it. They don't need a concealed carry permit, they just carry it under their coat. Legislative efforts need to focus on keeping weapons away from those who shouldn't possess them. I am in favor of background checks. I also think anyone buy ing a firearm should have to present three references stating that they believe, to the best of their knowledge, that this person is capable and competent to possess a firearm. Strict scrutiny-shoulbe given to those who want to buy guns, but we the people should have the right to purchase guns if we w con- cealed weapons in schools and churches as well as other public places, I thought I should state my opinion. I am a concealed weapon permit holder. I don't see why we need to prohibit concealed weapons from public places to protect the citizens of Utah. When was the last time a concealed weapon permit holder walked into a school and opened fire? In fact, when was the last time a concealed weapon permit holder killed magazine ads and from sometimes for only $12. Now with over 40.000 laws guns are very much more difficult to obtain yet these crimes happen. When will people start thinking and realize some of us are defective rt for a number of reasons. THE GUNS ARE NOT TO BLAME AND GETTING RID OF THEM - WILL MAKE IT WORSE as has happened in England and elsewhere. What? You say that these folks aren't try ing to get rid of guns? They just want to make them more difficult to obtain? In case you weren't paying attention, go back and read this again. Also, there are scores of photos, speeches, news releases, etc., from these people that say they want all guns destroyed and outlawed. It is done incrementally and by making it expensive and including a lot of Along with ownership comes responsibility. My child doesn't know I have a gun nor does he know where I keep it. My belief is that competent people prevent accidents. Most concealed weapons holders fall into this category. Education about guns, at an early age. is key to preventing accidents or misuse of a some people really don't care about your laws) criminals will carry concealed weapons in schools and churches as well as other public places if their intent is to commit a crime or kill their classmates. Please don't prohibit the honest, law abiding citizen who is competent, not criminally minded, and concerned for their family's safety from carrying a concealed weapon. The last thing any normal person wants to do is be in a situation where they have to use their gun on another human, but criminals don't care. Fix the real problem, don't prohibit law abiding permit holders from practicing their Constitutional rights. Cli ff Swenson hscofton.cswensonstateut.iLs Guns should not be banned in public places Editor I don't believe we need more gun control laws. Since Clinton took office, we went from 23.0UI laws to over 40.01 X). His efforts, and those of others like him. are not responsible for areas that are experiencing lowered crime rates. This is happening during a time w hen thousands in our state and millions nationwide are earning concealed carry permits. It is also attrib- uted to increased punishment and programs such as Project Exile. As for local politics, the churches, teachers union, and others should stop their attacks on our rights. We should not pursue banning guns from public places as the folks with carry permits are the most honest, resjvon-sibland trustworthy among us. As for the school and other shootings across the country , many are blaming the guns saying they are too easy to obtain. Thats crap. When I was young, in the early 60s 1 used to buy nlles from e, Editor My letter is addressing the recent elections of the city officials. The percent of voters in the growing city of Syracuse was a very low turnout In district one. only 28 percent of the people voted for the city officials. 28 percent in district two and 31 percent in district three, making the av erage only 29 percent of the population of Syracuse. Voting is a privilege and a responsibility. Adults and parents should be setting examples to the youth, by fulfilling this responsibility. These elections are to choose the people who will make many important decisions that control our community. It's a scary thought to know that over 50 percent of our city doesn't care enough to take five minutes out of their day to fulfill this obligation. paperwork. Darcee Kawaguchi, Syracuse Finally, all gun owners should join the NRA. They're the only ones fighting for us and less than' 10 per- -' cent of all gun owners belong. We're carrying the weight for the rest of us who apparently don't understand w hat is happening. Please join us and get out of the wagon and help push! Michael S. Jackson, South Weber micatjacksonuswestnet ant to. firearm. In the end it really doesn't matter what the law says, (sorry legislatures, reduces violence law-abidi- Office hours: 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Besides, are we going to revere and follow the U. S. Constitution, or are we not? vwrcwmm Credible studies have clearly Phone: trying to protect our positions. NtXJGonA GIVE HIMRW15 I'm glad I don't still have any children of school age. If I did. I surely wouldn't send them into the clutches of the government schools that would invite violent people to the schools to attack our unprotected children and teachers. The fuzzy thinkers have d even our school kids into lobbying to outlaw the protection they would have by citizens in the schools and school areas being armed. Published by Clipper Publishing Co. 197 North Main Layton, Utah 84041 is unconstitutional. As long as we Westerners continue to permit the activists and the federal government should control within the states and across state boundaries. they will continue to do so. (Consider Escalante and Garfield County.) We will continue to spend time money and resources, that should be spent more productively , Editor Complete North Davis coverage from Kaysinlle to Sunset acreage Antiquities Act of 1906. which Pres. Ginton used to put an National enormous acreage representation or discussion, Since one of the missions of PTA is to keep our children safe we need to protect them in our schools. This is an issue that is a real hot potato Im finding out. PTA is helping to sup- Clipper Today : E Monument into Utah, without Utah Editor port an initiative that would bring gun safety to the public to decide. 1 would think everyone would be happy with this because then we. the people, will be making the decision. This initiative brings the law back into perspective. PTA does not want . vJI 2. would want to be treated. Maybe we could even be so daring as to have parents raise their children in a loving home verses a day care center. Freedom and Safety can in a society that doesn't not jwW W&W A$S rr ' - RZST! lege). Want to have Freedom and Safety, revert back to the original Golden Rule Treat others as you WBUC SOttlS NJD h Spanish-speakin- Editor's Note: Due to the high volume of letters reeeiv vd, we haw devoted virtually all of this page to publishing them. The columns normally appearing here will be published in other sections or in upcoming issues. KMD and wcnonm WMERANDimTHSEHflaSWCCP5 A Outsiders see the West as their 'playground' Editor In the Sunday. Nov. 7, 1999 Deseret Sews headline article, Grand wilds agenda in West." very disturbing ideas and goals appear. Two of them we should beware of are: (1) No Man s Mesa, and other Utah locales like it, are actually pieces of a much, much grander wilderness agenda one involving hundreds of millions of acres of public lands in the West, from the Sonoran deserts of Arizona and New Mexico to the Arctic coast of Alaska." and (2) "More than Westerners, they (Easterners) see these (western wildernesses) as national lands..." It appears that the Wilderness Advocates" are insatiable! They are well organized and funded. They speak loudly , clearly and often, so constituents' thoughts are seldom considered. And as a result, the Easterners and Wilds groups (and Pres. Clinton) consider the West as their playground, instead of the W est being individual sovereign states within the United States. There is a prevalent unconstitutional concept that the federal government owns and controls lands within the borders of the states. The states should control the land within their borders, not the federal government. The land did belong to the federal government before some of the states existed, but should not the states have been given all of the land within their borders at statehood? Should not each state exercise the right to have and control its own land, resources and people according to the will of its people? Let the counties designate whether any land be wilderness" or whatever. This is based upon the God given and universal principle that I cannot take or control my neighbor's property (without hisher permission), so how can I delegate to anyone, person or government, that right to take or control my neighbor's property? Lest someone feel this approach to be too simplistic, my point is the U.S constitution grants no rights to the federal government to own or control any land, except for two types of land. Washington. D C. and A&M bonfire design should be changed Editor. Did you hear about the tragedy at Texas A&M University, where students were building a log bonfire as tradition, in part of a for the annual football preparation game against the University of Texas? The stack of logs collapsed w hile students were building it, and 12 of them died, and others were injured. I went to Dartmouth College my freshman year, and Dartmouth has a log bonfire tradition too. When I saw the clips of the Texas A & M bonfire being constructed on TV. I was shocked. At Dartmouth we laid the logs horizontally , like Lincoln logs (remember those?) We put the logs at right angles, and gradually built the tower up until it was 86 logs high (I was in the class of "86). But at Texas A & M. they stacked the logs on their ends. In other words, the logs were leaning up against one another, standing straight up and down. I know this is a tradition at Texas A & M, but I think that is a terrible design. Ask any mechanical engineer which is more stable: a pile of kgs stacked horizontally and at right angles to each other, or a pile of logs standing on end and leaning up against one another. Anybody w ho has ever built a fire in the fireplace or out on a beach should know this. If you put the togs horizontally, they pretty much can t fall. I suppose they couid, somehow, but it is not as likely to happen as if y ou put the togs standing on end. I hope they continue this tradition at Texas A & M, but change the design of their log pile. Mark Graham, Lav ton mark - L 'tahk,mail. msn.com Things are getting far too expensive Editor think that things are getting too expensive. To go to the movies now is $6.50. 1 remember when it w as only $2. and my parents remember when it used to be 25 cents. And if you buy popcorn and a drink you end up paying more than $15. Things are getting so expensive! We went to a movie rental place the other night and it cost $9.01 for 1 movie, and a game!! CDs now are $13- - $18. 1 think that we should have things that are actually worth that I price. think that everybody is just ripelse off. and it s not everybody ping really worth it. karcnpn?mstccl. com I |