Letters to the editor Dec. 29
Injustice and tyranny
I am reviewing this article (Tough Oregon law is tougher than it looks, Dec. 2) from the perspective of a gun rights supporter.
First of all any law that requires state approval for you to exercise your 2nd Amendment rights is an infringement of your rights. This law says you cannot even buy a gun without state approval! Some states have tried this and it has been ruled unconstitutional every time.
The article states that the requirements for any gun purchase are to obtain a permit, complete a state-approved training course, submit a photo ID, undergo fingerprinting, and a criminal background check. These requirements are normally required for someone wishing to obtain a concealed carry permit, but never for just buying a firearm.
But that is not all! The article leaves out other requirements of the law. Submitting personal references from four people, questioning of your neighbors, submitting access codes to your personal online media accounts so the government can judge your moral character and suitability to own a firearm. In short you have to prove to the state that you are acceptable to them to own a firearm, and this applies to any firearm you want to purchase. And the permit is subject to the judgment of the local law enforcement.
Then that is not a right under the constitution that becomes a privilege that the state can take from you.
Proponents of the law claim that it will save lives and stop mass shootings. Yet there is no proof of that. Furthermore there is no requirement that our constitutional rights should be safe. Freedom is very dangerous. Saving lives is no justification for taking away people’s rights. Otherwise all of our constitutional rights could be forfeit for the purpose of saving lives.
The second part of the law restricts the purchase and possession of so called high-capacity magazines (with more than 10 rounds). These are actually standard capacity magazines that are normally sold as standard with the firearm. The article states that courts have found such bans consistent but fails to mention that these laws have been overturned as unconstitutional most of the time.
The practical aspect of this is that when government restricts your ability to defend yourself then lives will be lost, not saved.
I do not believe the government should have the power to tell us how many bullets we need to protect ourselves or our families. That is also an infringement of our rights. If you already have a so called high-capacity magazine then you better be ready to prove when you bought it, otherwise you could be arrested for a crime.
The law also prohibits you from carrying those magazines in public for self-defense. This is a clear infringement on the right to keep and bear arms. Many sheriff's offices in the state say they will not enforce this magazine ban. That shows how awful this law is.
The arc of the moral universe is not bending toward justice, it is bending toward injustice and tyranny.
— William Fry, Kalispell
Unions have attempted to negotiate
This is in response to Mr. Zac Anderson of BNSF Railway (BNSF ready to negotiate, Dec. 23): While BNSF has implemented a new attendance policy it should be known that there is standing arbitration between the unions and the carriers of a 75% work on both weekends and weekdays and 25% timer off on both weekdays and weekends.
The Hi Viz program does NOT allow this.In fact 90% availability will put a TY&E employee subject to discipline.
As for the point you made concerning our Paid Leave. That was negotiated for Holidays. That is time the carrier gave us off instead of paying Holiday Pay. Union Pacific and CSXT railroads have eased up their attendance programs from what the carriers have released to the press.
The Unemployment Insurance Act you refer to is paid by Railroad Retirement Fund and not any of the carriers. That pay is currently $85/day with a maximum of $850 biweekly. This will increase to $87/day in July of 2023 and $870 maximum biweekly. With that said that is not 70% of our pay. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern Shareholders have all advocated for the employees of those railroads to receive the seven paid sick days per year.
The unions have attempted to negotiate to no avail.You cannot negotiate with someone or a company that refuses to negotiate in good faith.
— Doug Cuffe, Kalispell