Letters to the editor May 20
Responsible gun laws
By now, most Montanans are aware of the gun bill (HB 102) making “guns everywhere,” legal. This bill makes everyone unsafe: students, teachers and the general public. Guns in the hands of every person in every place is dangerous. How many mass shootings, suicides, murders and accidental deaths will be tied back to this law?
I’m a strong supporter of gun rights and see no problem with reasonable gun laws. Many laws regulate our society for the common good. No reasonable person objects to seat belt and helmet laws, or prohibiting guns in airports, so why more guns in colleges, and in public buildings?
Safety is not about everyone carrying a gun, waiting for a shootout — it should be more about responsible gun laws, mental health services and the like.
An even bigger problem with this bill is the legislature infringing on the Board of Regents’ constitutional authority. The Board of Regents should show more sense than the Legislature and reject this extremist legislation. Urge them to say no to guns on campus and in government buildings. If they don’t resist this, then they have given up a legitimate constitutional responsibility.
—Nancy Warren, Billings
Enjoys the Bison Range
It was a pleasure to read in the May 7 Inter Lake that the Bison Range is open under tribal management. One of the many perks, joys, of living in this area of Montana has been the Bison Range. We’ve been living here in Polson for the past 10 years, pleased to be only 30 miles from this national treasure. We have often taken our visitors, some from out of state, and a few from outside the USA, there to enjoy, and are never disappointed.
Recently at the men’s breakfast club at my church, Rich Jansenn, representing the Salish and Kootenai Tribes, was guest speaker and gave an excellent talk about the history and tradition of the Range, and then the plans for the tribal management. It is great to know it will be open. (We previously used our federal Golden Age pass to visit, and we know that it is no longer usable, but we feel that it is perfectly acceptable to pay the daily or yearly pass fees.) Great entertainment, viewing nature as a safari. and a real bargain. Every trip is slightly different, but we always see bison, antelope and deer, often elk and bighorn sheep, occasionally bears.
We wish the tribes the very best in opening and enhancing this treasure. Carry on!
—Kenneth W. Moss, Polson
Forced vaccinations
Imagine for a moment a secret button. When pushed, all of those refusing to be vaccinated would be immediately jabbed.
Let’s be honest. We all know folks who, if they could, would just push that button. Poof! Done. Why wait three years for clinical trials to end? Who cares if these so-called vaccines are by definition ‘experimental’? Who cares if they are acting against the will of others?
I call them the Vaccine Nazis. Ouch! Holy Batman, you can’t say that! OK, it sounds outrageous. But then we are living in the ‘new normal’, one of universal deceit and censorship.
Do you remember the 1947 Nuremberg Trials of Nazis regarding “Permissible Medical Experiments”? Rule #1 of the resultant Nuremberg Code states, “The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential.”
My advice for wannabe Vaccine Nazis: Know thy potential victims. The German Nazis got away with murder. Your mileage may vary.
—Roger Dwyer, Punta Gorda, Florida (formerly of Kila)
Hydro-electric dams
To all users of Montana electric cooperatives, the Daily Inter Lake picked up an AP article that needs much more light shined on it. It regards a feud among the GOP over four Snake River dams.
This fight has been going on for decades. The dams are needed to provide coop members with reliable power at a fair price. We do not need a Texas event in the Northwest.
I plead with you to contact your local general manager and find out the truth about the law suites filed to do away with these dams that are a mainstay of Northwest electric cooperatives.
—Perry Moore, Whitefish