Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 090, Ed. 1 Saturday, October 31, 2015 Page: 8 of 26
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OPINION
8A
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Denton Record-Chronicle
Denton Record-Chronicle
Comment on
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■ the Denton Chronicle, established in 1882,
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Published daily as the Denton
Record-Chronicle since Aug. 3,1903.
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MEDIA COMI'AM
arack Obama promised he wouldn’t
take away anyone’s guns, but gun
rights alarmists have spent seven
years incessantly predicting he will. From his
experience, Hillary Clinton seems to have
decided to skip the part of the campaign that
involves placating the National Rifle Associ-
ation.
B
EDITORIAL BOARD
Bill Patterson
Publisher and CEO
Scott K. Parks
Managing Editor
Mark Finley
City Editor
Mariel Tarn-Ray
News Editor
PAST PUBLISHERS
William C. “Will” Edwards
1903-1927
Robert J. “Bob” Edwards
1927-1945
Riley Cross
1945-1970
Vivian Cross
1970-1986
Fred Patterson
1986-1999
m
t.y-
Recently, at a town hall meeting in New
Hampshire, she was asked about adopting a
federal gun control program like the one en-
acted in Australia in 1996, which banned au-
tomatic and semiautomatic rifles and shot-
guns and mandated
the buyback of those
already present. Some
650,000 guns were
taken from citizens
and destroyed.
Clinton replied, “I
do not know enough
details to tell you how
we would do it or how
it would work, but cer-
tainly the Australian
example is worth
looking at.” The reason, she said, is that “by
offering to buy back those guns, they were
able to curtail the supply and to set a differ-
ent standard for gun purchases in the future.”
At this, the NRA activated the air raid si-
rens. Obama and Clinton, it declared, have
“made clear what they’re really after — na-
tional gun confiscation.”
It was an unforced error that she will nev-
er hear the last of. From how Clinton
phrased her answer, though, it’s pretty clear
that she was thinking of a voluntary buy-
back. She compared it to Obama’s Cash for
Clunkers program and cited voluntary pro-
grams done in various cities.
Given the fate of such previous gun con-
trol measures as the “assault weapons” ban
(which was allowed to expire) and universal
background checks (which were rejected), a
savvy politician could not possibly imagine a
mandatory program getting through Con-
Editorials published in the Denton Record-Chronicle
are determined by the editorial board.
Questions and suggestions should be directed to the:
Denton Record-Chronicle
314 E. Hickory St., Denton, TX 76201
Phone: 940-387-3811
Fax: 940-566-6888
E-mail: drc@dentonrc.com
m
Gonzalez doubles down
on ‘religious freedom bill’
\
US
ahbelo.com NYSE symbol: AHC
Steve
Chapman
o maybe experience is not all it’s
cracked up to be.
I mean, if experience were really
the teacher the axiom claims, the state of
Florida would not be threatening to lumber
down the same thorny path from which In-
diana and Arkansas so recently retreated in
humiliation. Both those states, you will re-
call, attempted to im-
pose so-called “reli-
gious freedom” laws
earlier this year that
would have allowed
businesses to refuse
services to gay men
and lesbians.
These attempts to
dust off1 Jim Crow
were beaten back
when businesses con-
demned the laws and
conventions started looking for new places
to convene. But apparently, Florida was not
paying attention. Or at least, state Rep. Julio
Gonzalez wasn’t.
Gonzalez recently filed a so-called reli-
gious freedom protection bill that would al-
low any health care provider to refuse servic-
es, except in emergency cases, to any person
who violated the provider’s moral or reli-
gious conscience.
The bill doesn’t mention sexual orienta-
tion, but is clearly aimed at gay people. On
the other hand, given how broadly one may
define moral or religious conscience, it
would also include women seeking contra-
ception.
And there’s more. The bill empowers
adoption agencies to refuse to place children
in homes contrary to the agency’s religious
convictions.
Again, given how broadly that term may
be defined, that could include the home of
two lesbians, but it might also include a
Muslim home, an atheist home or even a
home whose definition of Christianity does
not jibe with the agency’s.
Finally, the bill also allows individuals
and small companies to refuse service on the
same grounds.
“This is not about discriminating,” Gon-
zalez told the Herald-Tribune newspaper in
Sarasota. But it is about exactly that.
Given what happened in Arkansas and
Indiana and that Florida is a tourist-depen-
dent state, it is hard to imagine this bill ever
becoming law. But its very existence suggests
the lengths to which the forces of recalci-
trance and resistance are willing to go to
carve out some kind of official exemption for
their bigotry.
They always define that exemption as an
article of faith, as if ostracism were some
core tenet of the gospel of Christ. But it isn’t.
Indeed, Jesus was famously inclusive, open-
ly consorting with prostitutes, paralytics,
lepers, tax collectors, women and other sec-
ond-class citizens of the first century.
Moreover, it is telling how narrowly some
of us define that which offends religious con-
science. Consider: We live in a country that
throws away 70 billion pounds of food a year,
while 14 percent of us don’t know where our
next meal is coming from. The Washington
Post recently reported that toddlers with
guns kill or injure themselves or others
roughly once a week on average. Yet if things
like that trouble anyone’s religious sensibil-
ities, their cries have yet to reach my ears.
But let someone order a cake with two
men on top and suddenly the moral klaxons
are blaring.
You know what affronts my moral con-
science? This habit of using God as a cudgel
against his most vulnerable people. You have
to wonder how many of those who could use
the solace faith brings have instead been
driven away from faith, made irredeemably
hostile toward it, by small-minded people
who exclude them in the name of God.
I remember chatting once with some gay
men who seemed attracted to the promise of
faith, but were repelled by the expression of
it they had seen in churches, where they
were regarded as outcasts and rejects.
Sadly, I was never able to convince them
that that humiliating treatment was not the
sum and totality of faith. Now, here comes
Julio Gonzalez, eager to give that kind of
mistreatment the imprimatur of law.
He sees it as a matter of conscience. Real-
ly, it’s about the massive failure thereof.
LEONARD PITTS writes for the Miami
Herald. His column is distributed by Tri-
bune Content Agency. His email address is
lpitts@herald.com.
Other voices
S
Law change gives
schools flexibility
f the last few winters have taught North Texans any-
thing, it’s that setting aside only two inclement weath-
er makeup days in the school year might not be
enough.
During the academic year that ended last spring, a
February ice storm closed local schools for a day. Another,
later that week, sent students home early.
In fact, some districts canceled as many as four days
due to inclement weather in February and March alone.
But extending the school year to ensure that Texas
public school students get the state-mandated 180 days of
instruction isn’t popular with many parents, teachers and
students alike. Neither is eliminating other student holi-
days, like Good Friday or Memorial Day.
So a recent change to state law that sets the minimum
school year in minutes instead of days should be a wel-
come development.
Instead of 180 days, the Lone Star State now requires
districts to provide at least 75,600 minutes of instruction
during the academic year. (Each day is 420 minutes,
including recess and lunch.)
The change gives districts more flexibility when it
comes to setting their calendars. If extra days are needed,
districts might choose to extend school hours for a few
days to make up time lost due to weather delays or can-
cellations.
The Texas Education Agency released a guide instruct-
ing districts to keep records that prove they are meeting
the minimum minute requirement. However, the law
change won’t take effect until the 2016-2017 school year,
so schools have time yet to determine how they will ar-
range their calendars.
In theory, this is exactly the kind of innovation the
state’s education system needs. It returns authority to
those who are best equipped to make decisions for the
diverse body of schools throughout the state: the district
leaders.
But increasing local control should not come at a cost
to children.
And it’s also fair to wonder whether an extra half-hour
tacked on to the school day for a month will be produc-
tive instructional time.
Students are accustomed to their school days being a
certain length. Their attention spans have a limit.
We trust that local districts will consider this when
I
Leonard
Pitts
gress.
From a political perspective, there is
nothing to gain from pretending otherwise.
Her spokeswoman, asked whether Clinton
was proposing mass confiscation, replied,
“Of course not.”
But many gun control advocates think we
ought to emulate Australia. They claim the
1996 law reduced homicides, reduced sui-
cides and stamped out mass shootings, and
they insist that if we want to end the carnage
here, we should be taking similar steps.
The effectiveness of what the Aussies did,
though, is not so clear. It’s true that in the
years after the law took effect, gun homicides
and suicides declined. But they were declin-
ing before it took effect. Gun murders also
subsided in this country after 1996. They fell
in New Zealand, which declined to embrace
the Australian approach.
Does the 1996 law deserve credit for sav-
ing lives? Don Weatherbum, director of the
New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics
and Research, told PolitiFact that the evi-
dence is “far from conclusive.”
Some research does suggest the effort was
successful. Even if you accept that view, it’s a
stretch to think it has much relevance this
side of the Pacific.
Andrew Leigh of Australian National
University and Christine Neill of Wilfrid
Laurier University, whose study indicated
that the program worked, admitted the ex-
perience may not be transferable.
“The ability of an island nation to restrict
illegal gun imports,” they wrote, “coupled
with the absence of any domestic gun manu-
facturers producing for the retail market,
meant that legal restrictions on gun owner-
ship were more likely to ‘bite’ in Australia
than would be the case in countries with po-
rous land borders.” Like, um, ours.
Not to mention that a mandatory tum-in
would meet fierce, widespread resistance in
this country. Maybe you’ve heard of the
NRA? Linding and seizing guns from unco-
operative owners would be a logistical night-
mare, a political disaster and quite possibly a
bloodbath.
Even in Australia, experts estimate that
only one-fifth of the guns in private hands
were removed. Here, the share would be
smaller.
What about a voluntary program? Lor ev-
idence on that option, you don’t need to look
at Australia. Many American cities, includ-
ing Chicago, have offered payments to any-
one turning in a firearm. But the people who
respond are generally people who present lit-
tle danger, if any.
STEVE CHAPMAN writes for the
Chicago Tribune. His column is distrib-
uted by Creators Syndicate Inc.
Letters to the editor
or to 1968. This maybe important in years to
come.
Better choices out there
Columnist Susan Estrich was one of the
worst — if not the worst — campaign man-
agers ever, winning 10 states and allowing
her presidential candidate, Michael Duka-
kis, to sit in a tank for one of the most embar-
rassing photos ever in 1988. Yet here she is in
2015 telling candidates how they should run
their campaigns.
Leonard Pitts sees racism every moment
of every day. Mary Sanchez and Froma Har-
rop simply parrot the current progressive
philosophy and never have a thought of their
own.
I had a former U.S. senator visit my home
this past week and I took him around the
courthouse to show how proud we are of our
history, including the monument that I hope
they will never move. This monument is his-
tory and speaks nothing bad about Denton
as we see in some of the other states.
I ask the Commissioners Court to never
consider removal of this item from the
planning the calendar.
As Mansfield school Superintendent Jim Vaszauskas
told trustees at a recent meeting, “this [change] could be
a very, very good thing for schools.”
That’s probably true, as long as administrators ensure
that student learning is top of mind, not the number of
minutes in the day.
— Fort Worth Star-Telegram
courthouse lawn. This monument, Mr. Den-
ton’s grave and the courthouse are all histor-
ical items that we should be proud of. I ask
the commissioners and county judge to
stand firm and not destroy our history.
Have a great week and vote for a good
government for our future.
This day in history: October 31
The Denton Record-Chronicle has a
hole in its lineup of good columnists. There
are better choices out there than Estrich,
Pitts and the progressive twins, Sanchez and
Harrop.
Iceland with the loss of some
100 lives, even though the Unit-
ed States had not yet entered
World War II. Work was com-
pleted on the Mount Rushmore
National Memorial in South
Dakota, begun in 1927.
In 1955, Britain’s Princess
Margaret ended weeks of spec-
ulation by announcing she
would not marry Royal Air
Force Group Capt. Peter Town-
send.
Today is Saturday, Oct. 31,
the 304th day of 2015. There
are 61 days left in the year. This is
Halloween. A reminder: Day-
light saving time ends Sunday at
2 a.m. local time. Clocks go back
one hour.
On Oct. 31,1517, Martin Lu-
ther posted his 95 Theses on the
door of the Wittenberg Palace
church, marking the start of the
Protestant Reformation in Ger-
Ray Roberts,
Denton
Paul Knopick,
Denton
City should pay
Proud of history
I was reading an article in which the staff
writer gave importance to the fact that an in-
dividual was a Vietnam veteran. That is im-
portant as part of our history, same as the
Confederate monument is to us today. I am a
Vietnam veteran, flying as a pilot in 1968
along with 22 more years in the military pri-
A city of Denton lawn maintenance crew
severed the fiber optic line that provides
Internet service to my home yesterday, Oct.
27. The city should have to pay Verizon for
the expense of repairing the line and restor-
ing my service.
John Zeigler,
Denton
many.
In 1961, the body of Josef
Stalin was removed from Lenin’s
Tomb as part of the Soviet
Union’s “de-Stalinization” drive.
In 1964, Theodore C. Free-
man, 34, became the first mem-
ber of NASAs astronaut corps to
die when his T-38 jet crashed
while approaching Ellington Air
Force Base in Houston.
In 1968, President Lyndon
B. Johnson ordered a halt to all
In 1795, English poet John
Keats was bom in London.
In 1864, Nevadabecame the
36th state as President Abra-
ham Lincoln signed a proclama-
tion.
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In 1887, Nationalist Chinese
leader Chiang Kai-shek was
bom in Zhejiang Province.
In 1926, magician Harry
Houdini died in Detroit of gan-
grene and peritonitis resulting
from a raptured appendix.
In 1941, the Navy destroyer
USS Reuben James was torpe-
doed by a German U-boat off
U.S. bombing of North Viet-
nam, saying he hoped for fruitful
peace negotiations.
— The Associated Press
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 090, Ed. 1 Saturday, October 31, 2015, newspaper, October 31, 2015; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1124580/m1/8/: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .