Letters To The Editor

Thu., April 6, 2000

WASHINGTON STATE

I will remember anti-labor politicians

Re: “Hands on-hands off” (March 29). Don Brunell’s inference that the players on both sides of the Kaiser lockout are currently and must collectively share the pain exposes the biased support he has for his client, Kaiser Aluminum.

In spite of financial losses since the labor dispute began, Kaiser claims it is doing fine with its scab work force. Can Steelworker families claim they are doing just fine? I think not. They are the casualties of corporate greed at a level this community has never experienced.

Brunell implies that unemployment benefits for the Steelworkers who have wanted to return to work for 15 months now would be “sweetheart legislation” and would upset the delicate balance by putting Kaiser at a disadvantage. If helping Steelworkers with unemployment benefits during their time of need is enough to upset the delicate balance with a corporate giant like Maxxam, one has to question Maxxam’s true intent. Does it care about the Steelworkers or is it trying to starve them out?

The American people and our government are always quick to help others in time of disaster. Today, however, Republican state House Co-Speaker Clyde Ballard is obstructing legislation Sen. Lisa Brown introduced that would provide relief to Steelworker families. How can the Republicans and big business justify billions of dollars to bail out failed savings and loan institutions, where corruption and greed created the disaster, then turn their backs on working people who are victims of similar corruption and greed, and seek only to survive?

I will remember this when I vote this November. Roger Johanson Spokane

Tell Ballard to put it to a vote

I am a Steelworker who has worked for Kaiser Aluminum for 26 years. I am outraged by what is currently taking place in our state Legislature in Olympia. One man, House Co-Speaker Clyde Ballard, is being allowed to derail democracy.

The state Senate has passed a bill to extend badly needed unemployment benefits to workers like me, my family and 2,400 other locked-out Steelworkers in our state. We have the votes to pass the bill in the House but one man - Ballard - will not allow a vote. This bill would not be funded by the state but by the company that imposed the lockout.

Working families deserve better treatment. Contact Ballard and ask for the vote! Cathy Gunderson Spokane

Democrats should pay for session

The Republican budget was completed more than one month ago. The Democrats, on the other hand, spent this same time in unproductive resolutions and self-admiration, instead of getting to the business for which they are paid. All the while, Gov. Gary Locke was silent.

Then at the end of the regular session, Locke, as he did last year, in utter disregard for the taxpayers called a special session at a cost of $25,000 per day.

Ask your elected officials what they do during this special session. While a small handful of senators and representatives negotiate, the vast majority do nothing. Locke and the Democrats should be held accountable for this blatant waste of money. Ernie Cyr Spokane

FIREARMS

NRA is fighting coercion

It was very disappointing to see how the National Rifle Association was unfairly demonized in an editorial by Gary Crooks in the March 25 Spokesman-Review and by Editor Chris Peck the following day.

What the NRA is objecting to during this latest round of anti-gun hysteria is the way the anti-gun proponents are trying to create public policy by lawsuits and coercion rather than through debate and legislation.

Both Crooks and Peck urged the NRA to accept the “middle ground” in this debate. Last year, Congress proposed various measures, endorsed by the NRA, to increase gun safety in this country. President Clinton didn’t find these proposals to his liking, however, and ended any chance of a reasonable compromise by threatening veto.

Apparently, The Spokesman-Review approves of driving legitimate gun manufacturers out of business by forcing them to defend themselves against lawsuits. The threat that the federal government, with its enormous resources, may join in the litigation just increases the chance that the manufacturers will tire of fighting and give in due to litigation fatigue before any well-reasoned decision is reached by a court.

Sarah Brady and the anti-gun proponents are not looking for middle ground. They are looking for any tactic that will allow them to sneak around the Second Amendment and ban private gun ownership in America. Warren Wellens Greenbluff

Gun maker gave in to extortion

Editor Chris Peck’s March 26 editorial comments on a number of issues - gun violence, gun safety, the National Rifle Association’s opinion of the current administration. What he has failed to recognize is that Clinton has used his office to coerce and extort a federally licensed manufacturer engaged in a lawful business into succumbing to the will of his administration. Clinton has threatened Smith & Wesson with bankruptcy through litigation. This is absurd, and the fact that Clinton would use our tax dollars toward this end makes it even more so. This is just one more misuse of power by the Clinton administration.

If Clinton was serious about reducing violence and crime, all he has to do is to instruct the BATF and the Justice Department to enforce the more than 22,000 laws currently in effect instead of trampling the rights of businesses and individuals.

If Peck doesn’t believe that our right to keep and bear arms is not at risk, I suggest he do a little more research and try to find unbiased sources. I think he may be surprised. Duane L. Kirby Spokane

No good deed goes unpunished

After reading the article “Gun maker locked out” (March 29), I was nothing short of appalled. When the nation’s largest gun manufacturer finally steps forward in the name of safety and puts that ahead of profit, how do dealers react? Let’s not sell them any more.

Our children are killing each other for reasons we are not able to understand. Maybe that’s a different issue but the gun issue has to be dealt with. It makes me sick how gun people run and hide behind the Second Amendment when something doesn’t go their way.

I think the word “right” is too often confused with the word “privilege.” Owning a gun and driving a car are privileges. Eating, sleeping and breathing are rights. It worries me that they hide behind something that was created over 200 years ago under circumstances that are no longer valid.

What Smith & Wesson did wasn’t keeping dealers from selling guns, just that they have to sell guns with a little added security. Is it really that big of a deal to sell a weapon with a trigger lock that the owner doesn’t have to use? It shouldn’t be up to the dealers to make the decision for the consumer. If a gun buyer doesn’t feel the need for a trigger lock, they can keep it in the box.

It seems clear that these dealers are interested in defending the “American way of life.” The notion that the almighty dollar is more important that human life. Carl J. Burke Pullman

Accidents more common - well, duh

Did you know that car crashes occur more frequent among people who drive than those who don’t?

Did you know that those who ski are more likely to experience a skiing accident than people who haven’t taken up the sport? That the chance of dying in an plane crash is greater for those who fly than for those who don’t? Or that mechanics’ knuckles get skinned more often than the knuckles of those who own no automotive tools? And that butchers accidently cut themselves more often than people who own no knives?

Finally, it’s probably also true, according to Spokesman-Review Editor Chris Peck (who seems to possess a keen sense for the obvious), that gun accidents are more common in households where there are guns than in those that have no guns. Crandall L. Gustafson Post Falls

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