THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602220141
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Your editorial, ``Problem with teens is a much `older' one,'' would have us believe you innocently take as gospel everything you read in the newspapers and hear on the evening news. Certainly an editor knows better than that.
Worse, you claim to have gone into a school having been led to expect obnoxious behavior from a bunch of nasty, illiterate little slobs and instead found a group of normal kids. It's hard to believe you were really surprised to discover that kids today are no better or worse than when you went to school, and the majority still tend to behave and perform the way adults expect them to - even as they test their limits. But if so, how fortunate we are that our teachers have higher expectations.
The problem is not the ``damn teenagers'' or the ``damn adults,'' Mr. Editor. If you must point fingers, try aiming at the damn media. We all had grouchy adults in our neighborhoods when we were growing up, and we all had, dare I say it, bad kids, too. But somehow none of that was considered particularly newsworthy.
Today, inciting intergenerational warfare may sell papers and advertising space on TV, but it won't help solve any of the problems we all, adults and kids, need to face together. Let's keep the name calling off the editorial page and leave it where it belongs - in the mouths of those who REALLY don't know any better.
Lois H. Clark
Kill Devil Hills Take fish fight to Raleigh
I am a recreational fisherman. Even though I compete with the commercial fishermen for the same resource I don't see them as my enemy. If I was of that opinion then everyone who owns a fishing rod would be my enemy.
I am ready to fight but I refuse to fight anyone over the right to catch the last fish. The fight needs to be taken off the beach and fought in Raleigh because that's where we are losing our water.
The commercial fishermen and the recreational fishermen are being played like pawns in a game by the big businesses that profit from polluting. This summer, two rivers that feed our sounds died and a commercial fisherman ended up in court for the wrong color net buoys. Two thousand hog farms dumped sewage into the fish breeding grounds, 25 million gallons in one instance, and my truck was repeatedly searched for undersized fish (none found). Am I the only one who sees a pattern here?
If we keep fighting over that last fish, we will probably be hollering at each other when it floats by belly up. Let's put our heads together and save our sounds befoe it is too late.
Gregory Cremia
Kill Devil Hills On carrying handguns
I do believe that the time has come to present the facts that are relevant to the reasons why law-abiding citizens want to carry a concealed handgun. The primary reason that I and others like myself feel the need to have on or about my person a handgun is the desire for personal protection. It is a fact of life that our local law enforcement officers cannot protect the citizens from the criminal elements of our society, nor are they required to do so, this by a ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States.
This concern for safety has prompted 42 states to enact laws, over a number of years, which allow the law-abiding citizen the right to carry a concealed handgun so that the citizen can lawfully protect one's self from a criminal action. It is a proven fact that the armed law-abiding citizen is a positive deterent to crime. A study of recent FBI Uniform Crime Reports clearly shows that states with the right to carry have a far less violent crime rate than those states and areas with restrictive gun laws.
The North Carolina General Assembly enacted a Concealed Carry Handgun Law this past July that allows qualifying citizens of North Carolina the opportunity to obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun. This law went into effect on Dec. 1, 1995. A provision of the law requires that an individual complete a training program in the use of deadly force and demonstrate proficiency in the use of a handgun.
It should be understood that this license to carry is not a license to use. The licensing criteria allows the law-abiding citizen to carry concealed weapons for self protection.It has been proved that most people, carrying handguns, require proper training and continuous practice to be safe gun handlers.
It is most unfortunate that the state qualification program has allowed a number of substandard instructors, who for the purpose of financial gain, offer minimal courses to the unwary.
The Outer Banks Gun Club is hosting a 16-hour classroom and shooting range course. This course exceeds the state recommended requirements of 12 hours. The instructors of the course include Lt. Almey Gray who is the training officer of the Dare County Sheriff's Department, Comdr. Jack Overman who is a past captain of the U.S. Navy Pistol Team and rated a Distinguished Master Class Handgun Shooter, Bill Beadling, a U.S. Army and International Class competitor and medal winner, and several other experienced NRA instructors. For questions about this training, please call 441-6512.
Col. Bill Beadling, USA (ret.)
President
Outer Banks Gun Club Inc. by CNB