From today's Gazette:
Group pushes new gun laws
By Raquel Rutledge/The Gazette
Story editor Bill Vogrin; headline by Gary Houy
A grass-roots effort to tighten gun laws in Colorado Springs has the support of at least a couple [of] elected leaders and Police Chief Lorne Kramer.
About 15 citizens have formed what they are informally calling the Gun Violence Prevention Group and hope to bring proposals to the City Council next month.
Ideas being considered are essentially the same as those state and national legislators are debating:
-Safe storage of guns.[1]
-Raising the minimum age to purchase handguns to 21 from 18.[2]
-Extending the waiting period to purchase guns to three days from one.[3]
-Requiring permits to carry weapons in cars.[4]
"We're looking at everything and saying 'Do these things make sense for our community.'" said Ann Oatman-Gardner, spokeswoman for the group. "We haven't ruled out anything yet."
The group formed in response to the Columbine High School tragedy in April that left 15 dead.
"It's a public issue," Oatman-Gardner said. "What we're doing is one small piece of what this community needs to do. You have to deal with why people want to pull the trigger. This is something we know how to do, which is pass laws."[5]
Kramer says something needs to be done about what he sees as the city's liberal laws allowing people to carry weapons in their cars without permits.
"If one of our officers stops a group a young people in the car and discovers a weapon in the car - assuming they're all adults - there is no action the officer can take," Kramer said.
That is especially a problem when officers stop known gang members, Kramer said.
"Our prosecution of people with criminal attempts have dropped to almost nil," he said.[6]
While the council appears divided over guns, Kramer has an ally in Councilman Richard Skorman[7], who has attended a few of meetings of the gun violence prevention group. He agrees the city needs to act, especially to keep guns away from children.
"Their access to guns is tremendous," Skorman said. "We regulate young adults under 21 in terms of drinking, but they can have as many guns as they want and they can drive around with them on their front seats and the police can't do anything about it.
"It's unconscionable that we're allowing them this level of access without parental supervision or responsibility."[8]
Mayor Mary Lou Makepeace also voiced support for the group's effort.[9]
"There is nothing more disturbing to me than the combination of kids and guns," Makepeace said.[10] "I am very interested in seeing what we can do to put the brakes on that.
"We have child-proof covers for aspirin, for instance.[11] That is not an onerous requirement to prevent accidents that we typically see in younger kids. When it comes to protecting children, that supersedes the convenience of a gun owner."[12]
Others, including Lionel Rivera and Joanne Colt, say the city has enough laws and should work on better enforcement of them.
"The people that obey those laws are the same people that are not going to do something stupid with their gun anyway," Colt said. "The criminals don't care what's on the books. The criminals are laughing. Criminals will always find access to guns."
Rivera cited the U.S. Constitution as one reason to keep the city out of the debate.
"We probably have a role to keep (guns) out of city buildings and probably out of council meetings," Rivera said. "Government's role should be as limited as possible when it comes to the Second Amendment."
Councilman Ted Eastburn, a cardiologist, sees shootings as a public health issue and is organizing an October community forum to discuss it.[13]
"Everybody seems to be racing toward legislation," Eastburn said. "I'm not on board for that. I don't know that it's a legislative issue at all. I'm trying to offer a different way of looking at the problem by framing the question in the manner of a health problem instead of a law enforcement or judicial or constitutional rights problem and then tease out the data and see where it
points."[14]
Council members Linda Barley, Jim Null and Leon Young did not to[sic] return phone calls for this story. Councilman Bill Guman was out of town and could not be reached.
------------------------
1: Safe for the criminals, that is.
2: You must be 21 NOW to buy a handgun in C-Springs.
3: There is no waiting period now.
4: The vehicle is, according to Sheriff Anderson, an extension of one's home. Should we require permits to carry at home?
5: Laws which will only restrict the good guys' ability to fight back, and which will be IGNORED by criminals.
6: Ah-HA! So what's the point of passing new laws, when the bad guys aren't prosecuted for them anyway?
7: Skorman is the most bleeding of the bleeding hearts on the council, and is a FOB. When he was elected, a collective scream of horror arose from the lips of local gunnies. Skorman owns three businesses downtown, and most of his customers are students at Colorado College, where the hard sciences are scorned. I suspect he was elected solely on the votes of this crowd.
8: Typical lib-speak: "Their parents won't supervise them, so we must."
9: Makepeace is known around here as Queen Mary. She routinely ignores the Council and implements her own desires as law.
10: Queen Mary should drop by Cactus Flats on Wednesday evenings, when the FFA kids have their trap meets. Good kids, every one. Damn good shots, too.
11: And who can open the besh!tted things? KIDS.
12: Let me get this straight: by making gun owners bow to these insane laws, we're keeping our kids safe? From whom?
13: Great. Another MD weighing in on a criminology debate. There's a qualified observer for ya.
14: How about reading some of the books already in existence, like "More Guns, Less Crime"?
AAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!! Dennis, how's the unemployment rate in Canyon Lake?
------------------
"Taking a long view of history, we may say that
anyone who lays down his arms deserves whatever he gets."
--Jeff Cooper
Group pushes new gun laws
By Raquel Rutledge/The Gazette
Story editor Bill Vogrin; headline by Gary Houy
A grass-roots effort to tighten gun laws in Colorado Springs has the support of at least a couple [of] elected leaders and Police Chief Lorne Kramer.
About 15 citizens have formed what they are informally calling the Gun Violence Prevention Group and hope to bring proposals to the City Council next month.
Ideas being considered are essentially the same as those state and national legislators are debating:
-Safe storage of guns.[1]
-Raising the minimum age to purchase handguns to 21 from 18.[2]
-Extending the waiting period to purchase guns to three days from one.[3]
-Requiring permits to carry weapons in cars.[4]
"We're looking at everything and saying 'Do these things make sense for our community.'" said Ann Oatman-Gardner, spokeswoman for the group. "We haven't ruled out anything yet."
The group formed in response to the Columbine High School tragedy in April that left 15 dead.
"It's a public issue," Oatman-Gardner said. "What we're doing is one small piece of what this community needs to do. You have to deal with why people want to pull the trigger. This is something we know how to do, which is pass laws."[5]
Kramer says something needs to be done about what he sees as the city's liberal laws allowing people to carry weapons in their cars without permits.
"If one of our officers stops a group a young people in the car and discovers a weapon in the car - assuming they're all adults - there is no action the officer can take," Kramer said.
That is especially a problem when officers stop known gang members, Kramer said.
"Our prosecution of people with criminal attempts have dropped to almost nil," he said.[6]
While the council appears divided over guns, Kramer has an ally in Councilman Richard Skorman[7], who has attended a few of meetings of the gun violence prevention group. He agrees the city needs to act, especially to keep guns away from children.
"Their access to guns is tremendous," Skorman said. "We regulate young adults under 21 in terms of drinking, but they can have as many guns as they want and they can drive around with them on their front seats and the police can't do anything about it.
"It's unconscionable that we're allowing them this level of access without parental supervision or responsibility."[8]
Mayor Mary Lou Makepeace also voiced support for the group's effort.[9]
"There is nothing more disturbing to me than the combination of kids and guns," Makepeace said.[10] "I am very interested in seeing what we can do to put the brakes on that.
"We have child-proof covers for aspirin, for instance.[11] That is not an onerous requirement to prevent accidents that we typically see in younger kids. When it comes to protecting children, that supersedes the convenience of a gun owner."[12]
Others, including Lionel Rivera and Joanne Colt, say the city has enough laws and should work on better enforcement of them.
"The people that obey those laws are the same people that are not going to do something stupid with their gun anyway," Colt said. "The criminals don't care what's on the books. The criminals are laughing. Criminals will always find access to guns."
Rivera cited the U.S. Constitution as one reason to keep the city out of the debate.
"We probably have a role to keep (guns) out of city buildings and probably out of council meetings," Rivera said. "Government's role should be as limited as possible when it comes to the Second Amendment."
Councilman Ted Eastburn, a cardiologist, sees shootings as a public health issue and is organizing an October community forum to discuss it.[13]
"Everybody seems to be racing toward legislation," Eastburn said. "I'm not on board for that. I don't know that it's a legislative issue at all. I'm trying to offer a different way of looking at the problem by framing the question in the manner of a health problem instead of a law enforcement or judicial or constitutional rights problem and then tease out the data and see where it
points."[14]
Council members Linda Barley, Jim Null and Leon Young did not to[sic] return phone calls for this story. Councilman Bill Guman was out of town and could not be reached.
------------------------
1: Safe for the criminals, that is.
2: You must be 21 NOW to buy a handgun in C-Springs.
3: There is no waiting period now.
4: The vehicle is, according to Sheriff Anderson, an extension of one's home. Should we require permits to carry at home?
5: Laws which will only restrict the good guys' ability to fight back, and which will be IGNORED by criminals.
6: Ah-HA! So what's the point of passing new laws, when the bad guys aren't prosecuted for them anyway?
7: Skorman is the most bleeding of the bleeding hearts on the council, and is a FOB. When he was elected, a collective scream of horror arose from the lips of local gunnies. Skorman owns three businesses downtown, and most of his customers are students at Colorado College, where the hard sciences are scorned. I suspect he was elected solely on the votes of this crowd.
8: Typical lib-speak: "Their parents won't supervise them, so we must."
9: Makepeace is known around here as Queen Mary. She routinely ignores the Council and implements her own desires as law.
10: Queen Mary should drop by Cactus Flats on Wednesday evenings, when the FFA kids have their trap meets. Good kids, every one. Damn good shots, too.
11: And who can open the besh!tted things? KIDS.
12: Let me get this straight: by making gun owners bow to these insane laws, we're keeping our kids safe? From whom?
13: Great. Another MD weighing in on a criminology debate. There's a qualified observer for ya.
14: How about reading some of the books already in existence, like "More Guns, Less Crime"?
AAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!! Dennis, how's the unemployment rate in Canyon Lake?
------------------
"Taking a long view of history, we may say that
anyone who lays down his arms deserves whatever he gets."
--Jeff Cooper
)
Logic doesn't mean squat to these fools, so we gotta get 'em by the heartstrings.