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Show • O N E MOMENT From page 7 7 stopped. G and his friends walked past and 1 stared with golf ball sized concern in my eyes as they stepped off the bus. Our stop was next. My • brother and I sprinted down Fleetwood Drive, and through the garage door of our house. No sooner had my mother greeted us than my little brother started to tell his story a second time, and I watched as my mother's eyes grew to the same golf ball size mine had. But Mom remained composed, explaining the facts of guns to my little brother. "Aaron, it's bad to have guns at school. Guns are dangerous." He shook he head wildly. "Tnis one wasn't dangerous, Mom. It wasn't even loaded." "How do you know it wasn't loaded?" My brother's voice because confident, with an almost annoyed tone. "Because Mom. The bullets were in his hand." My mother was composed no longer. She ordered us downstairs and flew into a GEICO. A15-miniitecall could save you 15% stream of phone calls—first, to my dad then to the school and the district office. I have never seen my mother so upset. I don't recall seeing G on the bus too many more times. I'd heard that he was kicked out of school and sent to the alternative high school in the city. My dad was the principle of that school and I knew he would take care of it. Guns would never be brought to my dad's school. I was sure. At least until Christmas time just a few months later. My dad wanted a bulletproof vest for Christmas. it took just a moment for my opinion on guns to change forever. That moment when 1 finally understood why the world was so afraid of guns. This was three years before Columbine. Seven years before the shooting at Montreal. Nobody died in my moment. The gun wasn't even fired. But in that moment I decided that guns were not something I wanted at school, ever—high school or otherwise. There has been debate over whether or not the University of Utah can legally forbid guns on their campus. For the moment, it was decided they could not. It's a decision I feel was probably fair. Constitutionally, the right to bear arms is protected) providing you follow the rules, such as obtaining the proper permits and licensing, and the Constitution is something I don't like to take away from without good cause. However, just because you can take a gun to school, doesn't mean you should. It's your right though, and if you want to invoke it, that's fine. Get your permit. Carry your concealed weapon. Just don't tell me about it. I don't want to know that the kid sitting next to me in chemistry has a gun, and I don't want to have to worry about whether or not he knows how to use it safely. Mikaylie Kartchner is a senior majoring in print journalism. Comments can be sent to mikayliek@cc. usu. edu LETTERS From page 7 7 on car insurance. read through the Constitution and determine if the Patriot Act is Constitutional. Read the 10th amendment and then try to justify most of the federal government. Thomas Jefferson said "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." If you are interested try joining the Constitution club: www. usu.edu/constitution. which stated that the sight of a weapon could trigger aggression from angered persons. This does not go to say that everyone who owns a gun is angry, but when put into a position of anger, danger or even a heightened sense of awareness, people are more likely to use a firearm. To address the author's point that gun control will not stop "a psycho from killing innocent people," recent studies show tnat it will probJohn Mulholland ably do just that. Over 20 such studies have consistently concluded that criminals usuA recent case-control study ally use a firearm to "frighten, of homicide victimization humiliate, or dominate their To the editor: by Arthur Kellermann and victims" (Kleck, Hogan) rather his colleagues (1993) con- than kill them, but people People don't kill people, cluded that gun possession carrying concealed firearms people with guns do. In a recent increased the risk of homi- are sporadic and careless, article to the Statesmen, a stu- cide victimization by a fac- and usually end up to be dent argued that concealed tor of 2.8. Possession of guns the shooters. Oh, by the way, weapons don't increase the may also create a "triggering" John Lennon of the Beatles risk of violence on campus. effect on the likelihood that was killed by Mark David He is adhering to the famous the weapon possessor attacks Chapman, who had a legal quote "Guns aon't kill people, an adversary. Experimental concealed weapons permit. people kill people," (James C. psychologists Berkowitz and Guy) which in itself is a very LePage (1967) proposed the Kasey Killion scary thought. According to "weapons effect" hypothesis, 1513 N. Hillfield Rd., Suite 3 (8O1) 752-O485 Permitting guns is a bad idea the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 1990 and 1995, homicide with a handgun was 75% of the total homicide; and between 2000 and today, 7 in 10 homicides are caused by guns. Not to mention that people in our age group (1824) are the most likely to commit homicide with a gun. A study showed that probably less than 15 percent of gunshot woundings known to police result in death (Cook 1985). This means that not only does death happen with guns, but even greater amounts of injuries are inflicted. NATIONAL SECURITY From page 7 7 R5? PSST COHTROL HAHAGSRS/RSCRUITERS Work 1 Year I (High Pay and Manager Bonuses in 1st Year) . Get Paid for 2 Years! " * » EARN •-".#; MANAGER BONUS IN THE 2ND YEAR! ing Iraq we must diminish our dependence on foreign oil, reinforce national defense and implement the bipartisan measures presented in the 9/11 Commission Report. We must distribute money to areas more likely to be targets of terrorism and we must bring moral leadership back to America again. Remind your friend that the Democratic Party has already sought to implement this kina of change by proposing a number of measures that would increase funding to the Coast Guard and to FEMA; we fought for the funding to better secure our ports, airports, railways and other transportation systems. We called for a complete overhaul of the communication systems that failed on September 11 and that failed in the wake of Katrina. Remind your friend that all of these strengthening bills proposed by Democrats were shot down by Republicans. Good ideas are just not enough. It seems, in order to get them implemented we are going to have to be just a little more Republican. Frame the debate in terms of values. We believe in inalienable rights and that torture is fundamentally wrong. We are for honest leadership that isn't manipulated by big business. We support our Constitutional rights and will not sacrifice them. If we love God, we love him enough to lower him to the circus of politics. We are pro-family-all families. And ultimately, we are for human dignity, opportunity and personal liberties. Class dismissed. i Matthew Blackham is a junior majoring in sociology. Comments can be sent to matblackham@cc. usu. edu. " . < ' ; • Drop-In Assistance - * i ' - . " • • • For Your "Quick" 10 MinuteQuestions! fork required, just get paid eps accounts for 2 years!) " • & „ Call Rick Owner/President 816-529-7161 M0ji<da$rthK>ugh Friday 1:30-2:30 p.m. Career Services ni%sity Inn Room 102 |