reduce gun violence Four direct ways to
A6 Editorial, Friday, June 17, 2016, Bangor Daily News
Founded in 1889
SuSan Young Editorial PagE Editor
george DanbY Editorial PagE assistant
Matthew Stone oPinion PagE Editor
P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, Maine 04402-1329 Tel. 990-8000, fax 433-1048, email address [email protected]
Four direct ways to
reduce gun violence
I
t is unclear what ties, if any, the killer in Orlando, Florida, had to terrorist groups. What is clear, as it was in the numerous mass shootings that preceded the murders at the Pulse nightclub on Sunday, is that he had easy access to guns. After previous mass shootings, including the 2012 murders of 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, lawmakers have talked about changing the nation’s gun laws. After withering criticism — and, for many, political donations — from the National Rifle Association, lawmakers lose their nerve. Despite a Senate filibuster and pledges to vote on expanding background checks and prohibiting gun sales to those on terrorism watch lists, we don’t have much faith that lawmakers’ resolve will be stronger this time — it is easier to turn attention to “radical Islamic terror” than to stand up to the gun lobby. But, there are several simple changes that can make Americans safer. After the mass murders last year in San Bernardino, California, a law professor and public health expert spelled out four of them in the Journal of the American Medical Association. They remain relevant and needed today. First on the list from Lawrence Gostin, professor of law at Georgetown University and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights, is federal funding for firearms research. In 1996, Congress passed a budget provision prohibiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using federal funds to “advocate for or promote gun control” and later expanded the provision to include the National Institutes of Health. To prevent criticism from groups such as the NRA, agencies interpreted the prohibition to forbid nearly all types of research into gun violence. A backer of the original legislation now says it was a mistake. “If we had somehow gotten the research going, we could have somehow found a solution to the gun violence without there being any restrictions on the Second Amendment,” former Rep. Jay Dickey, R-Arkansas, told the Huffington Post in October. After the Sandy Hook massacre, President Barack Obama lifted the CDC ban on gun research through an executive order. The agency still does no gun research because, it says, it doesn’t have dedicated funding
for such work. Congress should, but is unlikely to, appropriate the needed funds. In January, Obama directed the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security and the U.S. attorney general to study smart gun technology. This is an important step. Second, in order of ease of implementation, Gostin calls for required gun safety measures, such as biometric gun locks, which could prevent toddlers from firing weapons. And, while mass shooting are horrid tragedies, the majority of gun deaths in the U.S. are suicides, many of which are impulsive. This highlights the need to reduce quick access to guns, whether through a new purchase or more secure storage at home. Universal background checks are third on Gostin’s list. Maine voters will get a chance in November to vote on extending federal background checks to firearms sold through private sales. Polls show that 90 percent of the public and nearly as many gun owners support universal background checks. In a 2013 CNN poll, only 54 percent of gun owners polled said they underwent a background check to purchase their guns. The Orlando gunman passed a background check and legally purchased his weapons. So, background checks need to be more rigorous — the FBI had twice investigated the gunman — not just more ubiquitous. Gostin’s final suggestion, banning assault weapons and armorpiercing bullets, is the most controversial. It shouldn’t be. After a 1989 school shooting in Stockton, California, Ronald Reagan, who had just left office, said, “I do not believe in taking away the right of the citizen for sporting, for hunting and so forth or for home defense. But I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon or needed for defense of a home.” The same should now be said of the AR-15, the weapon of choice among mass murderers in the United States and in the Middle East. Wal-Mart stopped selling the assault weapons last year. The inventor of the AR-15, Eugene Stoner, meant for the weapon to be used by the military, not civilians, his family says. There will continue to be much hand-wringing and finger-pointing after the Orlando shootings. Following these four simple steps won’t end gun violence and won’t prevent all future mass shootings, but these simple steps can help reduce the carnage.
other voices
cut government ties to internet
T
he Obama administration moved one step closer to giving up the last vestige of U.S. control over the internet. It’s not a big step in practical terms, but symbolically it’s a big deal. At issue is a Commerce Department contract that seemingly allows it to manage a crucial internet function: the global master list of “top level domains,” such as .com and .net, that directs traffic online. But the contract with the nonprofit Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers doesn’t give the U.S. much discretion; instead, it merely allows the feds to verify that the right procedures and policies were followed before any changes are made to that master list. Nevertheless, even that minor role has given some repressive regimes a pretext to push for more control by governments over
other aspects of the internet, such as the rules for privacy, security and data storage. Against that backdrop, the Obama administration proposed in 2014 to transfer oversight of the master list of domains to a “multistakeholder” group that could not be controlled by any government and would not diminish the internet’s openness, stability or security. ICANN worked with a broad array of internet users and other stakeholders to develop a proposal of its own, along with new rules aimed at making ICANN’s governing body more accountable to internet users. The Commerce Department recently gave ICANN’s proposal a conditional thumbs up, with the final details to be worked out over the coming months. If it truly loves the open internet, Congress will let it go. Los Angeles Times (June 10)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Smith wrong on Iran
Contrary to Republican 1st Congressional District candidate Ande Smith’s claim during a June 1 debate on MPBN, the Obama administration didn’t “channel billions” of dollars to Iran. After complying with their preliminary obligations under the nuclear agreement — permanently disabling their nuclear reactor in Arak and mothballing thousands of centrifuges, among others — Iran had billions of their own money frozen in foreign banks because of sanctions over their nuclear activities released. As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton was instrumental in setting up the sanctions regime that forced Iran to compromise on its nuclear program, leading to the nuclear deal. And if there were any question as to the benefit of the deal, consider that Gadi Eizenkot, the military leader of the Israeli Defense Forces, has said that the Iran nuclear deal removed an existential threat to Israel by reducing the threat of nuclear armament in the nation. Neither does Smith have his priorities straight regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearing, uninvited by the president, before Congress. Netanyahu speaking before Congress was direct interference by a foreign official in the foreign affairs of the United States, an arrogant breach of protocol and blatant disrespect to President Barack Obama by Netanyahu and then Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner. Netanyahu spoke before Congress attempting to influence its members against the nuclear agreement his own lead military official endorsed. Rep. Chellie Pingree was absolutely correct to ignore this breach of respect and shameless political move by Boehner, the GOP and Netanyahu. Smith has his priorities confused. Stephen Demetriou South Portland
Biogas proposal iffy A Feb. 23 BDN OpEd by Greg Lounder, president of the Municipal Review Committee, begs comment. It focused on the $84 PERC tipping fee and predicted that will have to go up. Perhaps, but what about the $70 fee touted by the MRC? Fiberight is to employ a highly questioned process to produce biogas. There is no production model from which to derive expected costs nor marketing model to point to expected income. Some suspect the $70 is out there simply to look good against $84. What’s more troubling involves a comment made by another MRC board member at a recent forum in Blue Hill. A
DOONESBURY
resident asked if Fiberight would adversely be affected by moves to divert organics from the waste stream. It is this organic material that feeds Fiberight’s process. The board member tacitly affirmed that would be true but dismissed the notion. She explained that it is not an issue because there have been attempts to develop the process to compost organics — but without success. The truth is, composting organics is not rocket science. It’s been done for decades. Recent news articles detail how it is a rapidly growing industry nationwide, with several companies in Maine involved and with many towns eyeing it as an answer to disposal of a major portion of the municipal waste stream. Several cities on the West Coast have actually mandated it. In order to stay in business, Fiberight will need to stymie efforts to expand composting, which is not good. Dale Sprinkle Surry
WRITE TO US
Letters must be 250 words or fewer and include a full name, town of residence and daytime phone number. OpEds may be 700 words. Letters may be edited or rejected for clarity, taste, libel and space. If a letter or OpEd is published, submissions by the same writer will not be considered for 60 days. Letters may be sent to letters@ bangordailynews.com. OpEds may be sent to [email protected] or P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402-1329.
Trump gone too far Presidential candidate Donald Trump has not only crossed the line of acceptable political discourse, he obliterated it when he suggested during a phone-in interview on “Fox and Friends” that President Barack Obama may have been complicit in the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida. “We’re led by a man who is very — look, we’re led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind,” Trump said. “He doesn’t get it or he gets it better than anybody understands. It’s one or the other, and either one is unacceptable.” As Atlantic magazine correspondent James Fallows noted, “I am not aware of any modern precedent of a major-party nominee publicly accusing an opponent, let alone a sitting president, of treason.” Trump has passed from amusing to outright dangerous. Pay attention, America. Kent Price Orland
Fund clean elections Because of years of lawmakers raiding Maine’s Clean Election Fund for other purposes, the fund could run dry in the 2016 or 2018 election. Fortunately, there’s an easy solution. Legislators must return the most recently borrowed money — $1.7 million to the Clean Election Fund. Since 2003, lawmakers have transferred more than $9 million out of the Clean Election Fund for use elsewhere in the state budget. It’s time to return that money to ensure the program that voters overwhelmingly support is solvent. For the Clean Election Fund to run out of money in this or a future election cycle would be an insult to Maine people, especially after they just overwhelmingly reaffirmed their mandate on Maine’s first-inthe-nation Clean Election Act. It’s time that lawmakers end the IOU’s and fully fund Maine’s Clean Election Fund. John Albertini Charleston
No LGBTQ security On Sunday, our country awoke to news of yet another mass shooting. As I prepared to gather with my community in mourning, I was called to put words to a nagging feeling: Straight, cisgender, white Americans awoke to a tragedy that defies description, but, unlike me and my queer siblings, they likely awoke to a feeling of safety. LGBTQ+ people live with the awareness that safety is not guaranteed. We walk the streets knowing harassment and violence could come at any moment. Trans folks and queer people of color know this threat even more intimately than others. Let us not forget that Sunday’s shooting took place on Latin night at Pulse. I recently worked a pride event where I spent hours trying to negotiate with a man who sat across from our children’s area spewing homophobic and transphobic slurs. This was not the first time I’ve endured horrifying oral abuse on the job. When he held up a metal pipe and pointed it toward me, mimicking a machine gun, I thought to myself: Am I safe? The answer was no. As a community, we must grieve those who have lost their lives to the hatred that spurred this attack. We must hold in our hearts every queer person who wonders how they will face the world in the morning. We mustn’t let hateful voices turn us against other marginalized people. We must love one another. We must survive. Maggie Campbell Bangor
GARRY TRUDEAU
Founded in 1889
SuSan Young Editorial PagE Editor
george DanbY Editorial PagE assistant
Matthew Stone oPinion PagE Editor
P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, Maine 04402-1329 Tel. 990-8000, fax 433-1048, email address [email protected]
Four direct ways to
reduce gun violence
I
t is unclear what ties, if any, the killer in Orlando, Florida, had to terrorist groups. What is clear, as it was in the numerous mass shootings that preceded the murders at the Pulse nightclub on Sunday, is that he had easy access to guns. After previous mass shootings, including the 2012 murders of 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, lawmakers have talked about changing the nation’s gun laws. After withering criticism — and, for many, political donations — from the National Rifle Association, lawmakers lose their nerve. Despite a Senate filibuster and pledges to vote on expanding background checks and prohibiting gun sales to those on terrorism watch lists, we don’t have much faith that lawmakers’ resolve will be stronger this time — it is easier to turn attention to “radical Islamic terror” than to stand up to the gun lobby. But, there are several simple changes that can make Americans safer. After the mass murders last year in San Bernardino, California, a law professor and public health expert spelled out four of them in the Journal of the American Medical Association. They remain relevant and needed today. First on the list from Lawrence Gostin, professor of law at Georgetown University and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights, is federal funding for firearms research. In 1996, Congress passed a budget provision prohibiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using federal funds to “advocate for or promote gun control” and later expanded the provision to include the National Institutes of Health. To prevent criticism from groups such as the NRA, agencies interpreted the prohibition to forbid nearly all types of research into gun violence. A backer of the original legislation now says it was a mistake. “If we had somehow gotten the research going, we could have somehow found a solution to the gun violence without there being any restrictions on the Second Amendment,” former Rep. Jay Dickey, R-Arkansas, told the Huffington Post in October. After the Sandy Hook massacre, President Barack Obama lifted the CDC ban on gun research through an executive order. The agency still does no gun research because, it says, it doesn’t have dedicated funding
for such work. Congress should, but is unlikely to, appropriate the needed funds. In January, Obama directed the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security and the U.S. attorney general to study smart gun technology. This is an important step. Second, in order of ease of implementation, Gostin calls for required gun safety measures, such as biometric gun locks, which could prevent toddlers from firing weapons. And, while mass shooting are horrid tragedies, the majority of gun deaths in the U.S. are suicides, many of which are impulsive. This highlights the need to reduce quick access to guns, whether through a new purchase or more secure storage at home. Universal background checks are third on Gostin’s list. Maine voters will get a chance in November to vote on extending federal background checks to firearms sold through private sales. Polls show that 90 percent of the public and nearly as many gun owners support universal background checks. In a 2013 CNN poll, only 54 percent of gun owners polled said they underwent a background check to purchase their guns. The Orlando gunman passed a background check and legally purchased his weapons. So, background checks need to be more rigorous — the FBI had twice investigated the gunman — not just more ubiquitous. Gostin’s final suggestion, banning assault weapons and armorpiercing bullets, is the most controversial. It shouldn’t be. After a 1989 school shooting in Stockton, California, Ronald Reagan, who had just left office, said, “I do not believe in taking away the right of the citizen for sporting, for hunting and so forth or for home defense. But I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon or needed for defense of a home.” The same should now be said of the AR-15, the weapon of choice among mass murderers in the United States and in the Middle East. Wal-Mart stopped selling the assault weapons last year. The inventor of the AR-15, Eugene Stoner, meant for the weapon to be used by the military, not civilians, his family says. There will continue to be much hand-wringing and finger-pointing after the Orlando shootings. Following these four simple steps won’t end gun violence and won’t prevent all future mass shootings, but these simple steps can help reduce the carnage.
other voices
cut government ties to internet
T
he Obama administration moved one step closer to giving up the last vestige of U.S. control over the internet. It’s not a big step in practical terms, but symbolically it’s a big deal. At issue is a Commerce Department contract that seemingly allows it to manage a crucial internet function: the global master list of “top level domains,” such as .com and .net, that directs traffic online. But the contract with the nonprofit Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers doesn’t give the U.S. much discretion; instead, it merely allows the feds to verify that the right procedures and policies were followed before any changes are made to that master list. Nevertheless, even that minor role has given some repressive regimes a pretext to push for more control by governments over
other aspects of the internet, such as the rules for privacy, security and data storage. Against that backdrop, the Obama administration proposed in 2014 to transfer oversight of the master list of domains to a “multistakeholder” group that could not be controlled by any government and would not diminish the internet’s openness, stability or security. ICANN worked with a broad array of internet users and other stakeholders to develop a proposal of its own, along with new rules aimed at making ICANN’s governing body more accountable to internet users. The Commerce Department recently gave ICANN’s proposal a conditional thumbs up, with the final details to be worked out over the coming months. If it truly loves the open internet, Congress will let it go. Los Angeles Times (June 10)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Smith wrong on Iran
Contrary to Republican 1st Congressional District candidate Ande Smith’s claim during a June 1 debate on MPBN, the Obama administration didn’t “channel billions” of dollars to Iran. After complying with their preliminary obligations under the nuclear agreement — permanently disabling their nuclear reactor in Arak and mothballing thousands of centrifuges, among others — Iran had billions of their own money frozen in foreign banks because of sanctions over their nuclear activities released. As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton was instrumental in setting up the sanctions regime that forced Iran to compromise on its nuclear program, leading to the nuclear deal. And if there were any question as to the benefit of the deal, consider that Gadi Eizenkot, the military leader of the Israeli Defense Forces, has said that the Iran nuclear deal removed an existential threat to Israel by reducing the threat of nuclear armament in the nation. Neither does Smith have his priorities straight regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearing, uninvited by the president, before Congress. Netanyahu speaking before Congress was direct interference by a foreign official in the foreign affairs of the United States, an arrogant breach of protocol and blatant disrespect to President Barack Obama by Netanyahu and then Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner. Netanyahu spoke before Congress attempting to influence its members against the nuclear agreement his own lead military official endorsed. Rep. Chellie Pingree was absolutely correct to ignore this breach of respect and shameless political move by Boehner, the GOP and Netanyahu. Smith has his priorities confused. Stephen Demetriou South Portland
Biogas proposal iffy A Feb. 23 BDN OpEd by Greg Lounder, president of the Municipal Review Committee, begs comment. It focused on the $84 PERC tipping fee and predicted that will have to go up. Perhaps, but what about the $70 fee touted by the MRC? Fiberight is to employ a highly questioned process to produce biogas. There is no production model from which to derive expected costs nor marketing model to point to expected income. Some suspect the $70 is out there simply to look good against $84. What’s more troubling involves a comment made by another MRC board member at a recent forum in Blue Hill. A
DOONESBURY
resident asked if Fiberight would adversely be affected by moves to divert organics from the waste stream. It is this organic material that feeds Fiberight’s process. The board member tacitly affirmed that would be true but dismissed the notion. She explained that it is not an issue because there have been attempts to develop the process to compost organics — but without success. The truth is, composting organics is not rocket science. It’s been done for decades. Recent news articles detail how it is a rapidly growing industry nationwide, with several companies in Maine involved and with many towns eyeing it as an answer to disposal of a major portion of the municipal waste stream. Several cities on the West Coast have actually mandated it. In order to stay in business, Fiberight will need to stymie efforts to expand composting, which is not good. Dale Sprinkle Surry
WRITE TO US
Letters must be 250 words or fewer and include a full name, town of residence and daytime phone number. OpEds may be 700 words. Letters may be edited or rejected for clarity, taste, libel and space. If a letter or OpEd is published, submissions by the same writer will not be considered for 60 days. Letters may be sent to letters@ bangordailynews.com. OpEds may be sent to [email protected] or P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402-1329.
Trump gone too far Presidential candidate Donald Trump has not only crossed the line of acceptable political discourse, he obliterated it when he suggested during a phone-in interview on “Fox and Friends” that President Barack Obama may have been complicit in the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida. “We’re led by a man who is very — look, we’re led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind,” Trump said. “He doesn’t get it or he gets it better than anybody understands. It’s one or the other, and either one is unacceptable.” As Atlantic magazine correspondent James Fallows noted, “I am not aware of any modern precedent of a major-party nominee publicly accusing an opponent, let alone a sitting president, of treason.” Trump has passed from amusing to outright dangerous. Pay attention, America. Kent Price Orland
Fund clean elections Because of years of lawmakers raiding Maine’s Clean Election Fund for other purposes, the fund could run dry in the 2016 or 2018 election. Fortunately, there’s an easy solution. Legislators must return the most recently borrowed money — $1.7 million to the Clean Election Fund. Since 2003, lawmakers have transferred more than $9 million out of the Clean Election Fund for use elsewhere in the state budget. It’s time to return that money to ensure the program that voters overwhelmingly support is solvent. For the Clean Election Fund to run out of money in this or a future election cycle would be an insult to Maine people, especially after they just overwhelmingly reaffirmed their mandate on Maine’s first-inthe-nation Clean Election Act. It’s time that lawmakers end the IOU’s and fully fund Maine’s Clean Election Fund. John Albertini Charleston
No LGBTQ security On Sunday, our country awoke to news of yet another mass shooting. As I prepared to gather with my community in mourning, I was called to put words to a nagging feeling: Straight, cisgender, white Americans awoke to a tragedy that defies description, but, unlike me and my queer siblings, they likely awoke to a feeling of safety. LGBTQ+ people live with the awareness that safety is not guaranteed. We walk the streets knowing harassment and violence could come at any moment. Trans folks and queer people of color know this threat even more intimately than others. Let us not forget that Sunday’s shooting took place on Latin night at Pulse. I recently worked a pride event where I spent hours trying to negotiate with a man who sat across from our children’s area spewing homophobic and transphobic slurs. This was not the first time I’ve endured horrifying oral abuse on the job. When he held up a metal pipe and pointed it toward me, mimicking a machine gun, I thought to myself: Am I safe? The answer was no. As a community, we must grieve those who have lost their lives to the hatred that spurred this attack. We must hold in our hearts every queer person who wonders how they will face the world in the morning. We mustn’t let hateful voices turn us against other marginalized people. We must love one another. We must survive. Maggie Campbell Bangor
GARRY TRUDEAU
