Protect us from plastic bag, not guns

[JohnM]

From The Times.

“Mayor Nickels holds off on Seattle gun ban”

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008136296_gunfree25m.html

Yeah, but for god’s sake, save us by banning plastic bags and water bottles.

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[JoB]

JohnM..

there is a difference between holding off and backing off…

i sincereley hope they are holding off.. as the article you linked to would indicate.

as the fee for bags issue has shown.. it’s going to be an uphill battle.

if those who agree that plastic bags are not a great thing for the environment are willing to fight to oppose a small fee on them… imagine what the anti-gun control forces will do.

In the meantime, i keep stopping my car to pick up plastic bags blowing on West Seattle streets..

I wish i could do the same with the guns that are threatening to make it unsafe to enjoy our parks.

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[JimmyG]

Where exactly are the guns that are threatening to make it unsafe to enjoy our parks?

Seriously, have posters here stopped going to local parks due to a fear of guns?

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[Zenguy]

They are in the hands of the gangs that hang out in Lincoln Park and perform inductions there.

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[JoB]

JimmyG..

yes, i have stopped walking my dogs in some areas of Lincoln park because of the behavior and the glimpse of a gun that i saw there.

and no.. i didn’t report it, i just got out of there. As it was, one of the “gentlemen” in the group followed me to my car…

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[CM]

So, this gun ban is going to keep gang members from carrying guns in the parks?

Right. I suppose they all have CCP’s and none have felony convictions either.

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[beachdrivegirl]

CM- I love it!! You just took the words right from my mouth.

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[Zenguy]

Did anyone claim that a ban on guns in Seattle would stop gangs from carrying guns? If so, I did not read that in this thread. JoB just said she wished she could take them away…you made a big leap there.

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[JohnM]

Where are the guns?

how about here?

http://www.komonews.com/news/national/27274894.html

or here:

http://www.komonews.com/news/national/27274894.html

or here:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/375420_salem19.html

or here:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/375067_shot15.html

or here:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/374757_folklife13.html

or here:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/373998_dog08.html

or here:

http://www.king5.com/localnews/north/stories/NW_081508WAB_hunting_charges_KS.4ddb8743.htmlor here:

http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/558610.html

or here:

http://www.king5.com/localnews/south/stories/NW_081408WAB_federal_way_school_shooting_KC.49f8eabb.html

or here:

http://www.king5.com/localnews/south/stories/NW_081208WAN_hazel_dell_robbery_LJ.41bc6578.html

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[mellaw6565]

JoB – laugh out loud about stopping to pick up bags. I stop when I walk and pick them up all the time. Yesterday on I-5, I counted 72 bags on the side of the road from Lynwood to Northgate, not to mention other trash. It was sad.

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[JimmyG]

JohnM I’m well aware of crime in the region. My question is where are the guns in the parks?

JoB related one experience.

To all of us who live in WS we can’t be cowed by supposed thugs. Call each and every time you witness a crime. If you don’t call, to the police it never happened.

And banning legally licensed gun-carrying citizens from parks will leave the parks open to the thugs.

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[mellaw6565]

“And banning legally licensed gun-carrying citizens from parks will leave the parks open to the thugs”

JimmyG – are you suggesting that licensed gun owners should carry their guns in parks to shoot thugs? What would be the point in licensed carriers having guns in parks other than to shoot someone?

I don’t want any vigilantes in my parks either – whether licensed or unlicensed. Robbery is not worth starting a gun battle over, IMO.

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[JohnM]

I believe the mayor and the council should be putting more of their efforts towards crime control and transportation problems, not bag fees and car free days and plastic bottle bans, hence my sarcastic “save us” comment. I have a few more in mind, like what the bags could used for, but I think I’ll keep them to my inner circle.

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[mellaw6565]

I want a Mayor and City Council that can focus on a lot of issues that affect the health and well-being of our community, not just a select few like crime control and transportation. While important, they are just one of several long-term issues we must address.

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[JoB]

I am afraid i fail to see what need there is for anyone in our parks to be carrying guns.

I am as likely to be hit by the stray bullet from a licensed weapon discharged in a park as i am from the stray bullet from an illegal weapon discharged in a park.

neither option makes me feel safe.

and whether illegal activity is reported or not, it does happen.

Ask yourself why westcrest dogpark doesn’t have the participation the park deserves. Could it be the illegal activity at the south end of the park.. all those single gentlemen taking short “walks” that seem to make them incredibly happy??? or the glass in the parking lot at the north end where the smash and grab thieves have been busy removing items from cars??? or the cars parked in the north end last time i was there who seemed to be meeting lots of friends for very short conversations and handshakes?

and that’s just one of our city parks. i have seen similar behavior and problems in more than one.. this is just the one where this type of behavior has been mentioned on this forum.

Banning guns gives law enforcement one more tool to use to control that kind of activity in our public spaces.

What would make a gun ban in our city parks where it is too easy for children and other bystanders to be hidden from view by vegetation… when even those who hold legal permits choose to discharge their weapons… so bad?

oh yeah.. it infringes on your rights..

what of the rights of those who share the parks with you if you discharge your weapon. Are they just collateral damage?

probably not if it’s your kid.

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[JoB]

JohnM..

the plastic bags i stop to pick up weren’t being used for much…

unless you consider drifting bags public art.

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[Anonymous]

Wouldn’t a gun ban just be a sentencing tool? Arrested for a crime and also found carrying a gun in a gun free zone. Not that I’m against longer sentences, but how does a ban make us safer in the park? Is there going to be a gated metal detector only entrance? I just don’t understand how this would be implemented?

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[datamuse]

Huh. It’s already illegal to discharge a weapon in a state park. Are city parks governed by different regulations?

And I swear, I must be going to Westcrest at the wrong (right?) times or something, I’ve yet to see anything untoward (aside from dogs offleash in the woods, but that’s another rant).

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[JoB]

datamuse…

i reported the “fellas” to the police and they told me they would put bike patrols back in the park.. so maybe it’s not their favorite place right now; i didn’t see so many cars at that end last time i drove through….

but the glass from smash and grabs was there a couple of days ago when i drove through and decided not to stop with my dogs.. as was young man with so many friends coming over to “shake” his hand…

on a better note.. i did see a huge picnic there the other day…

and i do safely walk my dogs there in the morning some times… with the only real concern being from unleashed dogs…

all of that activity is illegal… yet it doesn’t stop it from happening.. nor, i think would laws stop guns from being fired…

but a ban on guns in the parks might stop so many from carrying them into the parks where the potential for harm escalates if they are there.

We regulate playground equipment for public safety…

what makes firearms any different?

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[JohnM]

JoB,

Sometimes I think public art might be a worthy project, especially combined with the Mcdonalds cups, straws and food wrappers (and other tidbits) I’m continually picking up from in front of my house. (They go into the appropriate trash/recycle can, so I guess I also get to pay for the privelege of litter patrol. Maybe selling the art would offset the cost?)

Somewhere in the cobwebs (there are many and go deep!)of my mind, I don’t think a 20 cent fee will stop the plastic bags from appearing on the street.

I’m in full agreement with you statement “We regulate playground equipment for public safety… what makes firearms any different? “

I couldn’t have said it better.

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[datamuse]

Yeah, I realized my comment could be interpreted as saying, “Well I haven’t seen it, so it doesn’t happen,” which wasn’t my intent. I’ve certainly found evidence of unsavory activity there (let me put it this way: I’m glad that people use condoms, but I wish they wouldn’t leave them behind. Nuff said).

I guess my question is, how much of a problem is the presence of firearms in public parks, and will a ban really work when other laws already in effect are so rarely enforced?

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[JoB]

JohnM..

people tend to have more respect and take better care of something they purchase… as opposed to things they think they got for free like the containers junk food comes in and plastic bags…

it won’t stop senseless littering.. but it will make people more aware.

beachdrivegirl facetiously asked in the closed thread if i would expect people to take their own plates and utensils to consume their fast food…

seriously.. even i wouldn’t go that far.. but i do think that people should think before they choose convenience and it’s resulting litter over eating in.. whether it is at a fast food place, a restaurant with service or at home.

i think what the bag fee does is make people think.. and i hope that thinking rolls over onto disposable products and packaging.

datamuse…

i don’t know if a ban will work, but i do know it would be one more tool that could be used by law enforcement…

there are always people who break the laws… for whatever reason.

but the laws themselves do tend to impact public opinion.. and that is a step towards resolution.

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[vincent]

wow a second amendment rant thinly veiled as a parks discussion.

While its refreshing to see so many misinformed beliefs about the right to carry arms in one thread you should remind yourself your suggesting a ban on something that is a protected right in this state.

The mayors ridiculous attempt to subvert the will of the state Constitution by banning guns on public property ( parks ) should be view as what it is, a bureaucratic power grab to attain some sort of martail law on all actions in the city ( protest zones downtown started this, infringing on the 1st amendment right to assemble)

If you don’t like guns thats fine, don’t buy one, or move to a country that bans them outright, you have a plethora of dictatorships, fascist regimes and islamist states to choose from. Spewing a opinion that any guns = stray bullets is a little out there and reeks of crazed liberal gunban rhetoric.

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[mellaw6565]

Vincent – no one is suggesting banning guns, just banning them from public spaces. A reasonable restriction in my book.

Martial law – please…… I’ve been in those countries with dictatorships, etc…. not even a close analogy. There are many non-facist countries who regulate where guns may be carried -that doesn’t make it martial law. Get a grip – but not on your gun.

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[Zenguy]

There is nothing thinly veiled here, the title of the thread says guns right in it.

If you read the Supreme Courts recent DC decision they said a city could not interfere with a persons right to keep a gun but did not say a city could not restrict where you are allowed to carry the gun.

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