<font size=1 face="helvetica, arial, geneva"><B>BY HILARY GROUTAGE<BR>THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE</B></font><br>
<br>
<br> A decision to ban guns and build a new elementary school by 1999 dominated a lengthy meeting of the Salt Lake City Board of Education on Tuesday.
<br> About two dozen residents of the northwest area of the city attended the meeting to urge members to move forward quickly with plans for a new school.
<br> ``Do not think in terms of election votes and make a decision that will haunt you for the rest of your lives,'' said former board member Tab Uno, who lives in the area. ``Many students have waited and suffered for six years. We have waited long enough.''
<br> Parent Michael Steed said the schools are so crowded that students in Newman Elementary's resource program have been moved from the copy room to the boiler room to receive the extra instruction they need.
<br> ``We can no longer allow these children to suffer,'' he said.
<br> In the end, board members went against Superintendent Darline Robles' recommendation to hold off until fall of 2000 to open the new school and voted instead to adopt a ``fast track'' approach and complete the school one year sooner.
<br> ``I cannot guarantee the quality of the school in 1999,'' Robles said.
<br> Also opposing the move was board President Karen Derrick, who said since this would be the first new school built in the district in 26 years, board members should proceed cautiously.
<br> The comment drew groans from parents in the audience.
<br> ``I recognize there are some issues and challenges here, but we can do hard things and be successful,'' said board member Cliff Higbee, who represents the northwest part of the city. ``We've got a whole community who recognizes the problem that has been out there for seven or eight years.''
<br> The motion, which included an amendment not to close another school in order to open the new one, passed four votes to three.
<br> But the board was unanimous in its support of a measure that requires teachers, volunteers and administrators with a fondness for firearms to leave their guns at home -- even if they have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
<br> The policy passed with little discussion, except a boost from Salt Lake City's Assistant Chief of Police Steve Chapman, who said the policy is ``sound.''
<br> ``There are just too many guns on the street and in the schools,'' Chapman said.
<br> The policy states that personnel may not carry or possess a firearm, loaded or unloaded, or anything that even looks like a gun on district property, buses or in parking lots. Guns used for demonstration purposes would be exempt from the policy.
<br> Dolores Riley, assistant superintendent, human resources, said the measure came about after two complaints earlier this school year that district employees were carrying guns. In both cases, she said, colleagues turned the person in.
<br> ``When I called them in, they were not angry so much as surprised, because they had a permit. Most have been reasonable, but some have chosen to leave the district,'' she said.
<br> Students already are prohibited from carrying firearms as part of the state's Safe Schools Policy, and the district's legal counsel John Robson said it was within the law to restrict employees' rights to carry guns.
<br> ``We go through metal detectors in airports and in courthouses. People's right to possess and carry firearms are curbed all the time,'' he said.
<br> The 1995 Legislature made it easier to obtain permits to conceal and carry firearms. But Gov. Mike Leavitt recently banned state employees from carrying firearms in state buildings or on the job.
<br> At Highland High School, junior ROTC instructor Gregory Smith said he favors such a policy.
<br> ``I know we have quite a diverse population here at Highland and I have never been afraid for my life. I don't think I'm ignorant or naive, I just don't think weapons are necessary here,'' he said.
<br> Elaine Tzourtzouklis, president of the Salt Lake Teachers Association, echoed Smith.
<br> ``Teachers just don't have any concern [about the policy] at all,'' she said.
<br> When the policy was first discussed in December, Tzourtzouklis voiced opposition to applying the policy even to teachers' cars parked in school lots.
<br> ``I can understand why they say that now. Anyone could break into your car,'' she said. ``Besides, if we are going to have these policies for kids, we can't expect them to do it we we're not going to do it too.''
<CENTER><hr noshade size=1 WIDTH=400><font size=2>Contact The Salt Lake Tribune or Utah OnLine by<A HREF="/help/letters.htm"> <B>clicking here</B></A>.</font></CENTER>
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Web sites to check out:
http://www.assc.org/afc/afchome.html
http://www.assc.org/index.html
Vol.2 No. 2, Fall 1996
AFC Journal
EDUCATING AMERICA ABOUT FIREARMS
Know Thy Enemy
by John Riggio
If you want insight and an eye-opening, wake-up call of what the anti-gun
crowd has in store for gun owners and the firearm industry, you should
personally attend one of their conferences and witness firsthand their
fervor and fanaticism and the propaganda they dish out.
That's exactly what I got when I attended the Midwest Conference Against
Handgun Violence in Chicago this summer organized by the Illinois Council
Against Handgun Violence and sponsored by the Center to Prevent Handgun
Violence, an arm of Sarah Brady's Handgun Control, Inc.
From their names, they'd like you to believe they're concerned with handgun
violence. But they're not so much concerned with the violence as just the
handgun part.
For a day and a half I sat biting my tongue as I heard some of the most
incredible "disinformation" and distortion about guns and watched
impressionable citizens worked into a mindless frenzy over firearms.
Experts from various professions addressed topics ranging from fund raising
and organizational development, to generating media publicity, building
coalitions with like-minded groups (like anti-hunting and animal rights
advocates), and how to "educate" voters on gun control issues.
These people have created an industry of their own called "gun control" and
they are "franchising" it across the country and expertly marketing it as
"anti-violence."
These people are serious, organized and well-funded. They see absolutely no
use for firearms of any kind. They dismiss self-protection with a gun as a
promotional gimmick of firearm companies and continually refer to that
discredited study that claims a gun in the home is more dangerous to a
homeowner than to a housebreaker.
They see hunting as uncivilized and cruel. They view recreational and
competition shooting as pastimes that foster violent, criminal behavior.
They oppose firearm safety training because they believe it indoctrinates
youth into the "culture of guns."
They depict gun clubs and gun owner organizations as right-wing,
lunatic-fringe groups on the brink of overthrowing the government.
In their eyes, as a licensed gun dealer, I am a "merchant of death" and
average gun owners are misguided members of an "unenlightened" class who
must be protected from themselves.
These people are serious and sincere in their beliefs that guns are the
root of all evil. Above all else, they are intolerant. Intolerant of views
that differ from their own. Intolerant of facts that challenge the validity
of their own perceptions. They don't want to be confused with facts. They
know what is right and what is right is that gun ownership is wrong.
Seeing all of this firsthand left me with the clear impression that the
anti-gunners have decided advantages over our side. One is the passion they
bring to their cause. They are committed to their goals and the belief that
they are on a mission to save not just one life, but the whole world.
Another advantage they enjoy is the fact that their only focus, their primary
business, is to rid the world of guns and they are united in that effort.
For those of us in the industry, most of our time is spent trying to earn
an honest day's wages. We're tired after a 12-hour shift or a 70-hour work
week. There's not enough time left for the family or friends much less
politics and proselytizing for converts to our side. And, the margin of
profit I make in selling guns doesn't leave much for contributing to the
organizations we need to counter groups like HCI, which receives huge
grants from multi-national foundations and gets free work from Madison
Avenue ad agencies and law firms.
Still, I try my best, to support our cause, not just because my livelihood
depends on it, but because I am a true believer in individual rights and
individual responsibility. Nowhere are these concepts better illustrated
than in the individual right to keep and bear arms, and in the holding of
the individual criminal responsible when he or she abuses that right.
Throughout the day at my gun shop, my staff and I work hard at selling
guns. But we also work hard at selling the need for our customers to be
safe, responsible, and politically active gun owners.
That is a challenge all of us must take. We must do more as businessmen and
women in this industry to fight against the likes of Sarah Brady and her
growing gun control franchises.
We've got to stop letting the few in this industry, like the American
Shooting Sports Council, do 98% of our job. As an industry trade
association, ASSC is doing great work. But they need help. They need the
support of each of us in this industry.
Besides joining the ASSC, one of the more critical things each of us can
do, is to personally attend an anti-gun conference and see for yourself
their plans and strategies and learn firsthand what they have in store for
the future of the firearm industry and firearm ownership.
===
John Riggio is the owner of a successful gunshop and has been in the
firearm business for 30 years and is a member of ASSC.
#1996, 1997, The American Firearms Council
for information concerning this web site, contact George Miller
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