Vote Sam Carpenter

With the gun control debate raging in Oregon and across the country, it is critical that we elect a governor who will stand up to the far-left progressives and fight for our constitutional rights and, specifically, the Second Amendment. That man is Sam Carpenter.

Recently, a Portland-based group proposed IP 43, which would ban semi-automatic firearms and require citizens legally in possession of these firearms to register, sell or surrender them (except criminals who, by definition, do not follow laws). While this proposal does not come from Kate Brown directly, this hatred of lawful gun owners and their firearms starts at the top. We need a governor like Carpenter who will oppose arbitrary gun bans and unconstitutional gun grabs. Carpenter is an NRA member and gun owner who embraces Oregon’s long history of hunting, but also recognizes the true purpose of the Second Amendment: personal liberty and the right to defend oneself.

Those who have heard the rhetoric from the “March for Our Lives” events know that the far left isn’t interested in common-sense solutions; rather, they support radical changes in law-abiding gun ownership. Carpenter believes that rather than making more laws that infringe on constitutional freedoms, we should enforce existing laws that work and repeal laws that don’t.

As governor, Sam Carpenter will be a strong defender of the Second Amendment. I urge you to join me in supporting Carpenter in the Republican primary to take back Oregon from Kate Brown and to protect our constitutional right to bear arms.

George Eccarius

Eugene

Making schools safer

In response to the March 25 letter about five suggestions for safe schools, and as a person who has worked with teens for 40 years, I am offering five suggestions for safe schools:

1. Don’t allow teachers to have guns in the classrooms. No matter how trained or certified, their profession is to teach, not to bear arms. Trying to keep those guns locked and in a safe place so others don’t have access would hinder the ability to use them.

2. Protection of children in schools has nothing to do with “illegal alien felons,” and immigrants are not aliens. The issue with safe schools has to do with background checks, mental health issues, smaller classrooms and dealing with the issues of bullying and kids feeling that they don’t fit in.

3. Boys not having fathers in their lives does not make a shooter. Families need to be strengthened and single parents (moms or dads) don’t mean they are not strong. Studies show that just one adult, not just a parent, can make all the difference in the world to a young person.

4. The vast majority of school violence is not gang related. Many have been by a single individual.

5. While there are many video games, TV shows and movies that are violent in nature, it’s a parent’s responsibility to monitor these things.

Lastly, it is more than just blaming guns for school shootings. It is the type of weapons used — they have nothing to do with Second Amendment rights — these are weapons of war.

Mary Fleischmann

Bend

Saving the GOP

I’m responding to Michael Funke’s “So Called Moderates” submission in which he calls out Deschutes County Commissioner Tammy Baney (whom, he asserts, is a registered Republican) for allowing “pro-Trump forces to capture their party apparatus.” In naming and criticizing Baney, he misses a key point.

Commissioner Baney was elected (and re-elected) to fill a role, the duties of which include “executive, quasi-judicial, and legislative authority over policy matters of countywide concern.” Each day, she and her fellow commissioners engage with the public in a host of individual and small-group meetings, hearings and regional and community efforts As such, Baney must keep an open mind and show respect for those whose input she is considering. She does. Her evenhanded way of considering the interests of a broad spectrum of constituents is impressive. She is unfailingly well-informed and courteous. During her nonworking hours (likely few and precious), she should not be asked to intervene to save the Republican Party from itself.

Further, I don’t really understand how Mr. Funke thinks Baney, a county commissioner, can impact the behavior of the U.S. president or Republican congressional officeholders in Washington, D.C.

Bitter partisanship threatens to create deep and enduring fissures in the fabric of this country. It imperils our democracy. The best thing we, as citizens, can do is to stop labeling each other and, through our actions, promote civil discourse. Civility combined with voting offer our best chance of restoring decency and respect in our interactions with others.

Toby Bayard

Bend