Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/450485
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Yes, all Americans have the right to bear arms as protected by our constitu- tion's second amendment. I remem- ber in 1958 when I visited two aunts and one uncle out- side of Lon- don, England in the prov- ince of Surrey. I had never met my dad's siblings and I was a 19-year-old army cor- poral serving then in Frank- furt, Germany. Some of my very good memories from that visit were the questions they asked me about my dad, their brother. Surprisingly, they also asked if most people in Cal- ifornia wear guns in public. My aunts especially, wanted to know as much as I could tell them about what they thought was still our Wild, Wild West. We in our golden state had that reputation at that time, since Hollywood's western was a very big rage in England. Just once, when I was first elected to the Califor- nia Assembly in 1976, for- mer Shasta County Sheriff John Balma gave me a per- mit to carry a concealed weapon. I did it to mostly learn the process of doing that. When in office; guns, abortion, gays and so many other issues were what pol- iticians call "buzz issues." I quickly learned to be pre- pared to address those sub- jects. I discovered most cit- izens have a strong position on these controversial topics and that they are not about to change. There is an organization called Moms Demand Ac- tion for Gun Sense. So far they have had some moder- ate influence with corporate policies. They remind me of the lyrics Johnny Cash sang so many times, "Don't take you guns to town, son. Leave your guns at home." Now many places have what is called "open carry." In California that means the gun must be in plain sight and the person carrying is not in a prohibited area. Here in California our open carry right was repealed starting Jan. 1, 2012 when Assembly bill 144 took ef- fect. As I am sure you have guessed if you pay atten- tion to happenings in Sacra- mento, the California Leg- islature leaves nothing un- touched, including guns. I never thought I would ever get involved with much gun control, but I did in the mid 1980s. At that time, the legislature was not as di- vided as it is now. Democrat Lloyd Connelly approached me, I was then a Republican, and asked if I would vote for his proposal requiring a criminal check before one could purchase a gun. Computers and the In- ternet were just starting to grow rapidly then and eas- ier criminal checks could be made. I told him I liked the idea in his bill, but I asked Lloyd not to tell anyone of my support. He asked why, and I replied; "I don't want the NRA to put out a con- tract on me. That's why." I meant that as a joke, but it's actually too close to true. To make a long story much shorter, I spoke on behalf of that bill. It passed and be- came law and the NRA was in my personal office the next day asking me why I did not notify them of my support. Duh. They visited me period- ically after that. I was pleasantly surprised when on Feb. 11, 1990 the Redding newspaper printed an editorial about that vote and titled it: "Statham's gun bill vote courageous, reason- able." Since the issue of gun control is always so vola- tile, I then kept a hard copy to hand out as I thought I should. When one is in pub- lic office, he or she can ex- pect occasional confron- tation. I learned it can be character building. Please give me your can- did thoughts on this issue or any other. Thanks very much. StanStathamserved1976- 1994 in the California As- sembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965-1975. He is presi- dent of the California Broad- casters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. My take Some thoughts on the right to bear arms I told him I liked the idea in his bill, but I asked Lloyd not to tell anyone of my support. He asked why, and I replied; "I don't want the NRA to put out a contract on me. That's why." PATHSaleHouseoffers thanks Editor: Thank you to everyone who helped make a child's Christ- mas brighter at the PATH Sale House this year. We are especially grate- ful to Terry Blake and the Sugar Shack Cafe for setting up a Giving Tree for the PATH Sale House. This was the sec- ond year that the Sugar Shack hosted the Giving Tree and it definitely made Christmas a de- light for the Sale House women and children. We also wanted to give a spe- cial thanks to all those that do- nated to Christmas For a Cause, the Salvation Army and Toys For Tots. With the help of these amazing programs and the gen- erosity of our community, many families in Red Bluff struggle a little less around the holidays. — Jennifer Ragsdale, Red Bluff Unsung heroes appreciated Editor: I do volunteer work for the Tehama County Museum, and as we closed out 2014 and look forward to 2015 it occurs to me that there is a group of unsung heroes in our greater Tehama County community — members of the business community. We who work for non-prof- its, and there are a lot of us, ask much of our local merchants as we seek funds for our various projects. We ask for donations of money and raffle items and services and grants, and the business community responds very generously. Yes, it can be a form of ad- vertising if their donations are publicly acknowledged. Yes, it can introduce new customers to their business. But also, with so many events and so many causes, it can be a financial challenge. As just one example, last year Sierra Pacific Industries re- sponded generously to our re- quest for replacement windows for our 1859 main building. At the museum, we regularly seek support for our annual Sep- tember event, and the business community provides us with that support. I'm not in a position to speak for all non-profits, but I'm sure they would join me saying, thank you. Thank you for your community minded- ness. Thank you for your ex- pression of encouragement as we volunteer our time and combine it with your material support. And I would encourage any- one who attends our events to watch for ways to thank the business community. When you redeem that donated coupon, when you pick up that donated bicycle, thank the business that provided it — and maybe order something extra. We need the members of the business community to know they are appreciated. — Chris Bauer, Tehama Corning area does not need regional airport Editor: There are nine public air- ports between Redding and Willows. Only two, Chico and Redding, have a control tower only because they serve re- gional airlines. At least eight times yearly my wife and I drive to or from the Sacramento airport for com- mercial flights through Dal- las to Indianapolis, or through Minneapolis to Detroit to visit our family. There is insufficient demand for air service in the 50-mile ra- dius of Corning to justify build- ing a centralized $150 million airport, plus a connecting free- way from Chico, as suggested in the guest writer's opinion on Jan. 9. Throughout the US there are many dozens of rural areas lacking sufficient airline traf- fic to justify regional airline service. The benefits of rural or small town living overcome the inconvenience of a 100-mile drive to Sacramento. — Joseph Neff, Corning Investment, insurance two different things Editor: You know, there is a differ- ence between investment and insurance. The Social Security act is not an investment, it is an in- surance policy. No matter the savings you have made or the investments in securi- ties or real properties, they are volatile and their value can change momentarily and widely. Your payments into Social Se- curity however guarantee your retirement. Those funds will be there for you when you retire, if Congress doesn't do something stupid. Unfortunately there are people in this country, and in Congress who think they can do better than the rate of re- turn on Social Security premi- ums; and theoretically they can do better. In actuality they could de- stroy your insured safety net. I understand that some peo- ple have been frugal, that some people have invested wisely; but you have to realize that the last 100 years in the United States has shown the greatest growth in wealth in the history of the world. Just because you save is no guarantee that your money will be there when you need it. We have seen the effects of some of these investment schemes in the recent bank scandals. Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme, deferred resid- uals are. Life is not fair. Personally, I invested religiously in the re- tirement packages offered by all of the companies I ever worked for, but I also saw those invest- ments disappear when the tech- nology changed and those com- panies went bust. At least two times in my life, in spite of unemployment in- surance, investments and sav- ings I was on the verge of mov- ing under a bridge. Such is life when you work in high tech en- deavors. — Fred Boest, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take According to an essay pub- lished by New America Founda- tion (and reprinted on "Time" magazine's website), protest songs are enjoying a resurgence, after falling below society's ra- dar for a few years. I'm a natural to write about protest songs. My wife's folk- singer great-aunt Gladys was an acquaintance of Pete Seeger. My chiropractor introduced me to the topical music of Phil Ochs (1940-1976). When my son Gideon produced a book report in video form, we used "Eve of Destruction" for the soundtrack. I always assumed I would name the aforementioned son "Dylan," until my wife went all Helen Reddy ("I am woman, hear me roar") on me. It's heartening to see a new generation taking up the tra- dition of "Fortunate Son" and "War" ("What is it good for? Ab- solutely nothing!") Some of the original standard bearers are getting a little long in the tooth (and fiber-challenged), mutter- ing, "H*ll, no! We can't go!" or replacing "The I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag" with "The I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Grant Medical Power of Attorney Rag." The new songwriters are filled with urgency, because they see problems that will only get worse, because only passion will gain the attention of the public, because within another five years their an- thems will be reduced to eleva- tor music... I am glad to see that mu- sic can still be used to illumi- nate, educate and invigorate; but I caution against unbridled exuberance. Going back centu- ries, there have always been pro- test songs that hit the target dead center — as well as protest songs that were misguided, in- tellectually dishonest, simplistic, impractical, shortsighted and unreasonable. The majority of current pro- test songs focus on racial issues and shootings by police, but there is danger of coming down too hard on too many people no matter what the topic. It's as if the singers are joining hands to chant, "We shall overcompen- sate someday." Ironies abound. How can you call yourself a "movement" when you dismiss all progress and think it's still 1957? And if you're worried about authori- tarianism, isn't it the epitome of authoritarianism when you turn into your own parents and say, "Well, maybe you grand ju- rors didn't REALLY mess up this time, but this spanking is for all the times we didn't catch you"? Social media can accomplish wonders with dissemination of justice-seeking messages, but vi- ral songs can degenerate into just a glorified version of "Amer- ican Bandstand" ("It's got a good beat, it's easy to burn mom-and- pop businesses to.") Worthy causes exist. Viola- tions of civil rights exist. But if you're going to second-guess the split-second decisions of of- ficers, it is counterproductive and hypocritical to "shoot first and ask questions later". Six- ties idealism has given way to "If I had a chip, I'd wear it on my shoulder...," "My knee, it is a-jerking" and "All we are say- ing, is give cop-killer bullets a chance..." Protest songs need emo- tion, but they also need truth. And if truth is swept away by tunnel vision, groupthink or mob mentality, that raw emo- tion can be a most dangerous force. The self-righteous paranoia of seeing systemic racism, mi- sogyny, evil rich people and po- lice brutality behind every tree alternately spurs rash action or taints the cause with the ap- pearance of "the boy who cried wolf." Perhaps it would help to paraphrase the words sung by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: "Choose...your battles well..." Danny Tyree welcomes email re- sponses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree Protest songs: Where has all the common sense gone? Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, January 22, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6