This one is sure to anger some of you as it does me
While advocating for metal detectors at the state Capitol building, the Statesman's editorial board just couldn't resist the opportunity to take a few swipes at CHLees. They turned Gov. Perry's ill-advised statements into a caricature of all CHLees as clumsy ill-trained wanna-be cops.
Read for yourself. I'll be working on my next letter to the editor soon.
Austin Statesman editorial board 1-26-10 wrote:Under current law, it is legal for somebody with a concealed handgun license to enter the Capitol with a weapon. That's the first thing that should change, even though lawmakers who carry weapons have opposed the change.
Austin Statesman editorial board 1-26-10 wrote:Without getting into an argument about the relative merits of the state's concealed handgun law, let's just say we're not comfortable with Perry's reliance on pistol-packing citizens to protect us from harm. Undoubtedly, there are instances in which a cool-headed citizen with a gun can prevent criminal harm.
But, and we're guessing many law enforcement officials might agree with us on this, that's no way to handle public safety. It's a task best left to professionals, because amateurs with guns — well-trained and well-intentioned though they may be — often act like amateurs with guns.
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Austin Statesman editorial board 1-26-10 wrote:It's time for metal detectors at the Texas Capitol
Austin American Statesman
EDITORIAL BOARD
Updated: 8:54 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, 2010
Published: 6:36 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, 2010
It's time for a painful realization, one we fear is painfully overdue.
It's time to acknowledge the dangerous world in which we live, complete with the dangerous combination of too many guns in the hands of too many people who perceive too many motives to inflict harm on others.
It's time, sad to say, to require visitors to the Texas Capitol to pass through metal detectors. It became clear last Thursday when a man let loose with at least five gunshots after he exited the Capitol after a peculiar encounter with staffers in Houston Sen. Dan Patrick's office.
Fausto Cardenas is jailed on third-degree felony charges stemming from the unsettling incident in which nobody was hurt.
"Today, we got a warning shot — literally," Patrick, R-Houston, and a champion of gun owners' rights, said on the day of the shooting. "This could have been a tragedy."
For a long time, one of the best things about Austin has been the ability to walk into the Capitol and wander around in a relatively relaxed atmosphere in which the Department of Public Safety did as good a job as it could of non-invasive security. But the truth is there has been nothing to stop an armed nut — or a constituent with a grievance — from walking in and opening fire.
Under current law, it is legal for somebody with a concealed handgun license to enter the Capitol with a weapon. That's the first thing that should change, even though lawmakers who carry weapons have opposed the change.
Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, says he is considering legislation to ban guns from the Capitol. We urge him to move aggressively toward legislation accomplishing that. Weapons have no place in the building, just as they have no place in schools and courthouses.
But that change is just a first step. Criminals, by definition, have little respect for law. And that's why it's time for metal detectors at the Capitol. It's cumbersome and it's an inconvenience, but it's necessary, despite what Gov. Rick Perry thinks.
"I'm always looking at new ways to protect our citizens, but the last thing I want is the Texas Capitol to turn into DFW Airport," Perry said a day after the shootings.
Coincidentally, or not, Perry's comments came as he accepted the endorsement of the Texas State Rifle Association and the National Rifle Association.
Particularly distressing was Perry's theory on why metal detectors are not needed: "In Texas, criminals have to think twice before they draw a gun because there's a good chance they're going to be outnumbered. The fact of the matter is that keeps us all safer," he said.
Perry seems to take great solace in his belief that the state's concealed handgun law is a crime deterrent because criminals realize there is "a good chance that they're gong to be outdrawn" by law-abiding citizens with pistols.
It can be sad when a state lives up (down?) to its stereotype.
On this one, we're going to go with the ounce of prevention theory, fully realizing that many might see metal detectors as a good bit heavier than an ounce.
We don't want to place metal detectors at Capitol entrances. But we feel we have to. We owe it to ourselves and, especially, to the state employees who work for us in the Capitol.
Without getting into an argument about the relative merits of the state's concealed handgun law, let's just say we're not comfortable with Perry's reliance on pistol-packing citizens to protect us from harm. Undoubtedly, there are instances in which a cool-headed citizen with a gun can prevent criminal harm.
But, and we're guessing many law enforcement officials might agree with us on this, that's no way to handle public safety. It's a task best left to professionals, because amateurs with guns — well-trained and well-intentioned though they may be — often act like amateurs with guns.
We're not happy about it and wish it didn't have to be this way, but it is time — past time — for visitors to the Capitol to endure the inconvenience of passing through metal detectors as they enter the building.
