Letters

Guns again

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Came in to this message on my voicemail today:

“Yeah, Brian, I have a response to your Editor’s Note responding to R. Richard’s letter to you stating, ‘No disrespect intended’ and then a bunch of gobbledygook about the Second Amendment: George Mason, the co-author of the Second Amendment, clearly stated that the ‘militia’ meant ‘the people at large.’ It didn’t mean the state militias, and the Supreme Court has ruled as recently as 2010 that the states do not have the right to infringe on the individual’s ability to own those guns. So I expect a retraction or … I’m going to be looking at legal action against you. Do you understand? You better get it straight. We know who you are. We know what’s going on. You’re not going to pull this shit anymore.”

Yes, anonymous caller, I will acknowledge that I can find a few quotes on the Internet from George Mason on that topic. The quotes I’ve seen come mostly from the debate surrounding the 1788 Virginia Ratifying Convention. I’ve also seen arguments that the Second Amendment refered specifically to the state regulated “slave patrols” in Southern states, especially because George Mason, Patrick Henry and James Madison were all slaveowners. Here’s an article that lays out that argument: http://truth-out.org/news /item/13890-the-secondamendment-was-ratified-topreserve-slavery. I can also find lots of quotes from people with loftier motives. But that’s not what I was talking about.

When I said, “this interpretation is hardly supported by history,” Imeant there was no Supreme Court interpretation of an “individual right” until 2008’s District of Columbia v. Heller and then the one you refer to, McDonald v. Chicagoin 2010. That’s 220 years of historical data. My statement, “the Second Amendment … does not guarantee individual rights to own guns without regulation,” is still accurate.

Of course you know who I am. I believe this debate about guns in this country can be cordial. —D. Brian Burghart brianb@newsreview.com

Amendment exemption

Re “Editor’s Note” and “We’ll go with that” (Letters to the Editor, Jan. 31 and Feb. 7):

George Washington said the Second Amendment is second in importance only to the Constitution because it is the “People’s Liberty Teeth”! The Preamble to the Bill of Rights, which is not taught in schools, “exempts” the first 10 amendments from the amendment provisions of the Constitution; this is the only reason the states agreed to the Constitution. You can Google the right to keep and bear arms report of the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on Judiciary United States Senate, 97th Congress (1981-82). It shows that courts and government have studied the meaning of the Second Amendment from all perspectives and concluded that every private individual has the natural right to carry firearms. “People own the government, or the government owns the citizen.” Which one are you?

J.R. Haren Reno

True story

Re “Editor’s Note” (Letters to the Editor, Jan. 31):

Regarding militias and the Second Amendment: District of Columbia vs. Heller in 2008 was where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right that does not require militia membership. By the way, Heller was/is a Washington, D.C., policeman, not a Nevada politician. Mike Creed Reno

Enemies within

Re “Madness always” (Letters to the Editor, Jan. 31):

I would suggest to those who believe that they need weapons to overthrow a tyrannical (i.e., unrepresentative) federal government that they should first fight like hell to protect the electoral process that makes our elected government answerable to the people.

Every American should have access to a balanced, fact-based media that isn’t unduly influenced by the wealth of powerful individuals and multi-national corporations. Unfortunately the recent, abhorrent Citizens United decision by the five GOPappointees to the Supreme Court removes almost all limits on the amounts of political propaganda to which we are subjected. (Note that political propaganda is not subject to truth in advertising laws). This decision by the Court fails to protect the American electorate and must be overturned. The second threat of a “despotic” government to our electoral process comes from electronic voting. Instead of focusing on the unlikely possibility that some illegal alien might risk deportation or jail to cast one relatively meaningless vote, we should be focused on the electronic voting system which Sen. Heller [as Nevada secretary of state] implemented locally and the GOP implemented nationally in 2002.

In doing so they took away the ability of American citizens to monitor the counting of our votes. The software that runs these machines is private proprietary property and is immune from inspection by government officials. The so-called verifiable paper trail which is supposed to mirror the electronic votes is immune from an audit by the public. Only in cases where victory margins are less than half a percent is a candidate allowed to request an audit (at no cost) of the electronic votes and paper trail. And then only 5 percent of the electronic vote is sampled and compared to the so called paper trail. This audit is done by a private committee appointed by the county commissioners.

At no time is the so called verifiable paper trail available for review by the public. Both Heller and Brower’s recent victory margins were in a range that could have been easily flipped without detection. This kind of uncertainty fuels speculation that our government may indeed be illegitimate and should be overthrown by force. The voter ID requirement is just a false flag by the right to divert attention from the real threat to our democracy that electronic voting presents. Voter suppression laws and efforts by the GOPto alter Electoral College rules state by state are just more examples of a despotic and tyrannical movement aimed at thwarting the will of the people, while inciting a misinformed minority to take up arms against the very democracy that protects us all. Ron Schoenherr Reno

Sounds delish

Re “How are the resolutions going?” (Streetalk, Feb. 7):

Atorte is a rich, usually multilayered, cake that is filled with whipped cream, buttercreams, mousses, jams, or fruits. Ordinarily, the cooled torte is glazed and garnished. Atorte may be made with little to no flour, but instead with ground nuts or breadcrumbs, as well as sugar, eggs, and flavorings. One of the people in Streettalk is described as a ‘torte claims manager.’ Perhaps you meant tort, instead. R. Richard Reno

Right interpretation

Re “Editor’s Note” (Letters to the Editor, Jan. 31):

In your Editor’s note you state that the militias referred to in our Constitution referred to “state militias.” Who on earth do you think “the militias” were made of? There was no National Guard in those times. The militias (which, in part, were the founding of our National Guard) were made of citizens like me who were called upon to take our own weapons, livestock and supplies, and defend our people. Hence, the rest of the introduction of the Second Amendment that you conveniently omitted, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

The “shall not be infringed” is most often interpreted as meaning the right of the people to bear arms shall not be infringed. It is a small minority view typically confined to left-leaning law programs like the Boalt School of Law at Berkeley and the New York Times that claims that the Second Amendment refers only to militias.

As you are a writer and editor, the accurate way to describe the debate over the Second Amendment is this: Gun-control advocates interpret the Second Amendment as providing no right to bear arms guaranteed to the citizens, while our courts have overwhelmingly interpreted the Second Amendment in its more widely accepted interpretation, to wit: the rights of the citizens to individually keep and bear arms is a protected right guaranteed by our Constitution. J. Tyler Ballance Reno

Guns are good for business

On a recent trip to California, local TVhad all the democratic California legislators on talking about how they were going to set the example for having the toughest gun laws in the nation. Then the next story was about how ridiculous it was for Texas Gov. Rick Perry to be visiting San Francisco and trying to lure in new companies to move from California to Texas. Tough gun laws, just another reason for the mass exodus from California, high taxes, higher regulations led by liberal leaders that has taken the Golden State to all time lows in fiscal responsibility. Mike Arp Reno NV

The Truth heals

Re “The Game” (Feature story, Feb. 7):

I love this story. Thank you for writing and publishing it. This really goes counter to the culture we live in. To talk about prostitution as not healthy and not always the choice of the woman (in legal or illegal prostitution) could be a threat to the status quo. Right on! We need to hear the Truth.

Shawn Pennell Reno

Correction

Re “The Game” (Feature story, Feb. 7):

We incorrectly identified Michon Martin as Michon Miller. We apologize for our error, and we’re sorry for any confusion our error caused.

Our Mission To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages people to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live. Editor/Publisher D. Brian Burghart News Editor Dennis Myers Arts Editor Brad Bynum Special Projects Editor Ashley Hennefer Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Editorial Intern Tracie Douglas Contributors Amy Alkon, Chanelle Bessette, Megan Berner, Matthew Craggs, Mark Dunagan, Marvin Gonzalez, Bob Grimm, Michael Grimm, Nora Heston, Sheila Leslie, Dave Preston, Jessica Santina, K.J. Sullivan, Kris Vagner, Bruce Van Dyke, Allison Young Design Manager Kate Murphy Art Director Priscilla Garcia Associate Art Director Hayley Doshay Design Melissa Arendt, Brian Breneman, Vivian Liu, Marianne Mancina, Skyler Smith Advertising Consultants Meg Brown, Gina Odegard, Matt Odegard, Bev Savage Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Office/Distribution Manager/ Ad Coordinator Karen Brooke Business Manager Grant Ronsenquist Executive Assistant/Operations Coordinator Nanette Harker Assistant Distribution Manager Ron Neill Distribution Drivers Sandra Chhina, Gil Egeland, Neil Lemerise, John Miller, Russell Moore, Jesse Pike, David Richards, Martin Troye, Warren Tucker, Matthew Veach General Manager/Publisher John D. Murphy President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resource Manager Tanja Poley Business Mary Anderson, Tami Sandoval Systems Manager Jonathan Schultz Systems Support Specialist Joe Kakacek Web Developer/Support Specialist John Bisignano 708 North Center Street Reno, NV 89501 Phone (775) 324-4440 Fax (775) 324-4572 Classified Fax (916) 498-7940 Mail Classifieds & Talking Personals to N&R Classifieds, Reno Edition, 1015 20th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 or e-mail classifieds@newsreview.com Web site www.newsreview.com Printed by Paradise Post The RN&R is printed using recycled newsprint whenever available. Editorial Policies Opinions expressed in the RN&Rare those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permission to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper. The RN&Ris not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form.

THIS MODERN WORLD BY TOM TOMORROW

Is winter over?

Asked on a warm, sunny day along the river

Ben North

Job seeker No. Winter is never over in Reno. Are you serious? In 2011, it snowed in June. I mean, it might be warm now but give it an hour or two.

Hannah Thornton

Student I just moved her from Washington so I have no idea what the weather is here. It feels great out here. I like to ski, so hopefully ...

Above the law

Legislators are elected to represent their constituents, not to be superior to them. But we’ve already seen many examples in this session of the Nevada Legislature that show that this is not the case. Legislators aren’t just treated as belonging to a class above their constituents, they appear to be of a class above the law.

Absurdly, this session seems more like a comic book movie than a deliberate legislative body. It’s easy to imagine the Sylvester Stallone version of Judge Joseph Dredd coming to the floor and shouting, “That’s a lie. The evidence has been falsified. It’s impossible. I never broke the law. I am the law.”

And while it’s not all that surprising that lawmakers would want to imagine themselves as somehow superior to the rules they create, we see through its inaction that the executive branch also feels that way.

It doesn’t take the most imaginative person to guess what would happen to the average person—mentally ill, in the throes of addiction, or with a brain tumor the size of a grapefruit—who physically struggled with Las Vegas police. He or she would, at minimum, be constrained with extreme prejudice, and more likely, would be admitted to a hospital or morgue long before visiting the Clark County Detention Facility.

And to go for a cop’s gun? Can we at least agree that a person who was not an elected official would be at least formally charged with a crime?

As of this writing, Steven Brooks has still not been formally charged with any crime, despite the fact that he’s been arrested twice for behavior that is at least potentially violent. How fast would an average citizen be strapped down to a chair to have blood removed for toxicology and internal possession tests if he or she were accused of attacking his or her spouse, attacking a police officer or threatening an elected official?

Why is Brooks above the law?

Then we’ve got the Select Committee on the Assembly adopting rules that allow Chair William Horne to obstruct Brooks from carrying out Brooks’duly elected and sworn duties. The Nevada Constitution does allow the house to discipline its members, but it requires a two-thirds vote of all the assemblymembers to do so— not some committee. There has been no such vote. Horne is just making up rules of convenience. Brooks hasn’t been convicted of any crime.

Why is Horne above the law?

And that brings us to our third example: Assemblymember Andrew Martin. Even before the election, District Court Judge Rob Bare found that Andrew Martin was not an actual resident of Assembly District 9. Somehow, the Assembly is acting as the sole arbiter of election law, allowing Martin to represent a district he didn’t even live in at the time of his election. Assuming the court findings are true and Clark County voter registration documents are accurate, Martin’s not only representing a constituency he doesn’t belong to, but he also voted in Assembly District 9 on Oct. 21. (And by the way, isn’t it revealing that it’s a felony for regular citizens to lie on voter registration forms, but it’s a gross misdemeanor for candidates to lie on candidacy paper?)

Why is Martin above the law?

It’s easy to see why members of the Assembly wouldn’t want to enforce laws upon their own members, but why aren’t enforcement officials acting? We have a separation of powers in the branches of government specifically to prevent these types of special treatment. Ω Samuel Johnston

Retiree No. We always have a nice February for a period of time but no, winter’s not over.

Griffin Peralta

Student Not quite yet, no, because winter’s always coming. I am a big fan of the winter. I’d prefer it not to be [over]. It’s starting to feel a little springtime, but Reno is like that.

Julie MacLean

Medical assistant Oh, no, not by a long shot. We always get a late season storm or two. I love snow.