I thought it more than ironic when the front-page article on law enforcement wishing not to enforce the recently enacted law on sale and storage of guns was followed on page 2 with an item about a 27-year-old mother shot in the face by her 4-year-old who had found an unsecured gun under a bed. Would it not have been more appropriate to paste that item as a sidebar to the front-page article?
I grew up in a family in which everyone had their own deer rifle and/or shotgun for bird hunting. Everyone knew where the guns were kept in an unlocked closet and respected them. That is, until the day when I had to wrestle my Enfield from my older brother to keep him from shooting my uncle.
One uncontroverted statistic that persists is that a gun in a home is 43 times more likely to be used on a member of the family than an intruder.
As one who has come home to find bullet holes in an exterior wall of a bedroom and the closet door across the room, I will feel much safer when they develop ammunition that respects property lines. Until that day, I will be a supporter of legislation similar to that enacted under Initiative 1639.
Do I think it is necessary to ban all firearms? No. But I would hope that some level of sanity could be expected from elected officials who have sworn to uphold the law.
Enforcement of federal and state laws based on observance of parochial wishes is a slippery slope. If a county can opt out of enforcing a state law, can each municipality opt out of county code? Can a property owner consider his or her property as a sovereign entity and opt out of state and federal laws?
Or possibly will it be necessary to post electronic signs along the highway, “Entering Lewis County — Today we will not enforce the following federal and state Laws. ... Enter at your own risk.”
Such signs could be updated daily, according to local whim. That will be great for economic development. What CEO would not want to move his or her hi-tech manufacturing operation to such a community? Lewis County does not exist in a total vacuum.
David Eatwell
Chehalis
