Gun ownership is a constitutional right

In her letter (“Do we need guns or bullet-proof vests?” Dec. 28), Rebecca Stillwell suggests that we need more stringent laws about gun ownership passed but this is not possible due to the strong gun lobby.

Well, I for one am thankful for the gun lobby that fights to protect my constitutional right to own and carry a firearm.

It is my responsibility to protect my home and loved ones and I will do so by any means necessary including the use of force.

I am a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen who has never been convicted of a gun crime in my life so why take away or limit my right to own a weapon?

It is amazing to me that those that wish to take this right from me would stand up and scream if they were told they no longer have the right of free speech or the right to be free from illegal search and seizure, which are also protected by the Constitution.

I hope and pray the day never comes when I have to use a weapon against another human being, but should that day arise I intend to be prepared to protect myself and family instead of becoming a victim.

The answer is not more gun-control laws. The answer is that we need to enforce the laws we already have on the books be it gun laws or immigration laws.

Richard Creaser

Corvallis

Spaying, neutering animals best solution

I don’t think shelters should be places animals go to die, in droves, for any little reason.

I got over 600 cats fixed last year alone, the hard way, going to door to door, crawling under trailers to net kittens, calling free kitten ads, sitting out freezing nights watching traps.

Primarily, the spay/neuters were paid for by Hillsboro based nonprofit Poppa Inc. (www.pop

painc.org). But I use any means I can to scrounge money to pay for spays. One year, I collected cans at home football games to get some money.

One spay prevents unbelievable suffering down the line. Sure, it’d be nice if people would fix their pets. Lots of people don’t do this, for all sorts of reasons, some of them incredibly lame.

Say a shelter houses 30 cats. That is average number of kittens two reproducing females have in one summer. It is a far more efficient use of funds to fix those two females in the first place.

When focus changes from funding shelters and euthanasia to funding spay/neuter, when people who do not fix their pets or abandon them suffer consequences of any sort for their actions, when low- to no-cost spay/neuter is widely and easily accessible, change will occur.

Until then, I will be out there, and others like me, engaging in the street fight that saves lives.

Join me.

Jody Harmon

Albany

Boey touched many lives in her 8 years

Last week, humanity lost one beautiful soul, but Heaven gained one perfect angel.

My friend Jenessa “Boey” Byers was by far one of the most compassionate, caring and thoughtful people I have ever met.

Even during her own struggles, she was always interested in helping others, like my dad, who are also battling cancer.

Her commitment to finding a cure for cancer was so strong that her name is now part of congressional records for lobbying with Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden to sponsor the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act.

In her eight short years of life, Boey was able to achieve more positive goals than most of us will in a lifetime.

It is my hope that we can all work together to keep Boey’s wonderful legacy alive by compassionately caring for others and striving to make the world a better place by helping people along the way. God bless.

Debbie Luster

Corvallis

2007 was busy time for finding big truth

The biggest lie of 2007:

“Thank you for calling. Your call is very important to us. Please continue to hold and the next available operator will be with you as soon as possible.”

Biggest truth of 2007:

“Please quit calling. Your call is unimportant and bothersome to us. We have fired most of our operators so that our CEO and stockholders can make more money. It will be a long, long time before you are connected to someone you will probably not be able to understand. This is, as usual, a very busy time.”

Roy Hart

Corvallis

Drivers talking on cell phones a danger

A tiger recently escaped its enclosure at a zoo and killed one man and injured two others. A tragedy no doubt that fortunately is very rare. Though rare is little consolation to the families involved.

Now news crews and officials visit the state zoo and wonder could this happen here and what can be done to prevent it.

Unfortunately, the dangerous beasts have been out of their cages for sometime. They roam freely down our roads and highways, through our communities, and our school zones virtually unnoticed until you become one of their victims. They know no prejudice. Drivers, passengers, pedestrians and bicyclists are all fair game.

Sadly, Oregon zookeepers/legislators show little interest in containing the danger or protecting the public.

I’m referring to the dangerous drivers who talk or text on their cell phones while driving. They use this device, the equivalent of the electronic cigarette complete with toxic by-products, for their convenience without regard for the safety of themselves or others and in doing so pose more threat than any zoo tiger ever will.

State legislators think that’s OK as evidenced by their pathetic secondary offense law aimed at teens.

Why stop there? Remember the woman who drove her SUV off a Portland bridge while talking on the phone?

It’s time to face the inconvenient truth. All drivers on phones are dangerous.

Ignoring the facts does not change them. Oregon legislators, you blew it. Don’t look to me for votes.

Can you hear me now?

Jody L. Mohlman

Corvallis

Adair Village story contained two errors

Adair Village appreciates the efforts of the Gazette-Times to report on significant issues facing the smaller communities in our area.

Kyle Odegard’s article on Adair Village’s research into bringing on our own police force (“Adair Village might add own police,” Dec. 27) did a good job covering the issue, but there is one statement that misinterprets the information and another statement that I made which is simply a mistake on my part.

The first issue is in the third paragraph which mentions complaints about problems in Adair Park.

The article makes it sound as if there are ongoing problems at Adair Park and that simply isn’t correct. There may have been specific incidents, but there is not any kind of ongoing problem.

The second sentence states, “A recent survey done by the city confirmed those concerns.” The concerns expressed in the survey confirmed the desire for more local law enforcement options and no responses to the survey mentioned any problems in Adair Park.

The mistake that I made was in reference to the response time of the sheriff’s department to non-emergency calls.

Further research shows that the average response time to Adair Village calls is less than 20 minutes.

I apologize to the sheriff’s department for this misstatement. Adair Village voters supported the recent bond for increasing public safety services in Benton County, showing that there is strong local support for increased police presence in Adair Village.

My thanks again to the G-T for their ongoing efforts to cover our community.

Drew Foster

City Administrator

Adair Village