Latest doings and the 10-10 Rule of public discourse

I try not to give out too much free advice — (and to be completely honest, I don’t get paid for much of it, either) – but it’s been an interesting several weeks of wading into a few things.  The most enjoyable event was being an inaugural speaker up in Merrill for a group of people from business, government and the citizenry who are discussing ways to improve their community. I had two hours on the program, which is long for me (and probably a lot longer for them.) That said, it was great to have the luxury of being able to go into some detail on how we were able to create change in Wausau over the past 15 years through a combination of vision, strategic investments, the organizational capacities of a number of different groups who were interested in making things happen – and some good, old-fashioned luck.

I have a fairly substantial file of the things that we did here, as well as some of the places where those ideas were stolen from.  And even with that much time, there were still things that had to be left out, including Wausau’s whitewater course, our new 8-sheet curling center and our never-ending effort to complete our River Edge trail project.  (Those are some pretty big things to leave out, but I didn’t have as much to do with them.)

Merrill is dead serious about this stuff and their speaker this Thursday is Peter Kageyama, a fellow who works with Richard Florida researching and sharing what goes into creating and maintaining dynamic urban environments:

http://www.creativeclass.com/_v3/creative_class/author/index.php/peter-kageyama

In a semi-related matter, the Marathon County Education and Economic Development Committee, which I chair, sponsored a seminar on Tax Increment Financing that brought attendees from a number of area communities to learn about laws and the goals of TIF.  (How’s that for an eye-glazing topic?)

Personally, I thought one of the best things to come out of the discussion was simply to have it. But another really cool thing was total surprise: a piece of work from the Wausau Daily Herald that took what can be a very dry topic and making it, well, entertaining.  Be sure to click on the link to “Katy Perry and Ryan Gosling explain TIF districts:

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=U0&Dato=20130426&Kategori=WDH01&Lopenr=304260295&Ref=PH

Also in April, the Marathon County Board voted down a proposal for a study of the impact of immigration in the county. It was unfortunate, but not unexpected. The county board has dallied on the subject for essentially a year. There seem to be some members who believe that not taking up the fact that there are hundreds — perhaps thousands — of undocumented workers here supporting the agriculture, hospitality and other industries is better than facing some the of the issues it necessarily entails.

Rejecting a study would seem to support the status quo – a set of circumstances that is ripe for exploitation and does nothing to cultivate an environment for productive, useful policymaking in the future. Some simply choose to avoid potential controversy. Others seem to embrace a closed-door vision that is fast being rejected by many conservative Republicans who saw what trying to keep the blinders on with respect to immigration did to them in the November 2012 elections. To me, the “debate” seemed more like listening to a litany of rationalizations than anything else.

But in the end, the biggest problem with the immigration study proposal was the same thing that makes it challenging to lay out winning positions on a lot of other things: it violates something that I call “The 10-10 Rule,” which is this: you have 10 seconds to explain your position to a 10-year-old. If you can’t do it, then you’ve got yourself an issue that is complicated enough to leave a good share of the electorate clicking the remote before you ever finish making your case.

And speaking of media, I had a lot of fun with Twitter this afternoon when I stumbled across a picture on a certain organization’s Facebook page indicating that Scott Parks was being appointed to the vacant office of Marathon County Sheriff by Gov. Walker. This would not be such a big deal, except that it was news that hadn’t appeared anywhere else.  Some of the hijinks are captured here, but the real fun was on Twitter:

http://wsau.com/news/articles/2013/may/06/spoiler-alert-social-media-leaks-upcoming-sheriff-appointment/

This one fit nicely inside the 10-10 Rule and it really had legs, while it lasted. So whenever the announcement is made later this week, try to act surprised, okay?

And speaking of things that have legs: the continuing cat fight over the Humane Society:

http://wsau.com/news/articles/2013/may/07/marathon-county-committee-approves-cat-care-cuts-for-shelter/

This one also appears to violate the 10-10 Rule.

JR

Let’s right-size Thomas Street

Federal officials notified the City of Wausau several months back that they would not participate in funding a project to reconstruct Thomas Street because the city failed to follow the correct standards when it began purchasing property for the project. That’s a huge problem with a project that could range up to $15 million, but it also provides a chance to re-evaluate the whole premise and purpose of the Thomas Street project. In so doing, the city has the opportunity capture some real advantages:

- Instead of replacing the existing 2-lane street with a high-capacity (and inevitably higher speed) 4 or 5 lane roadway, the city can take a look at a safe, calm, neighborhood-friendly design that incorporates turning lanes to facilitate traffic flow, but doesn’t slice through with a 17^th Avenue-style upgrade that would forever fragment that area.

- Instead of spending $9 million buying private property and reducing the tax base under the guise of an “economic development” project, tax base can be preserved.  While there is significant blight along that stretch, part of that problem certainly stems from property owners spending the better part of a decade in limbo. With the potential road project hanging over their heads, they couldn’t sell their property very easily and many couldn’t see their way clear to make substantial improvements or even moderate maintenance outlays.

- With a new, right-sized plan, the city will have the opportunity to regain federal participation and that’s a very important component in a project of this magnitude. Replacing federal funds with local taxes is a losing proposition and it should be avoided to the greatest extent possible, but that’s what insisting on forging ahead with the same plan would necessarily mean.

Take a look at this website about right-sizing to get an idea about what such an effort might encompass and keep in mind that not only can we have a far more attractive and functional piece of infrastructure, but we can do it for many millions of dollars less than the present plan anticipates. This will immediately lower the bar for the level of private investment required to make it all work:

http://www.pps.org/reference/rightsizing/

Thomas Street is in serious need of reconstruction and safety enhancements, but it’s not the city’s job to build a speedway to the Rib Mountain commercial district. Importantly, such a roadway will still be constricted by the two-lane bridge over the Wisconsin River for years to come. The city would be using up more of its capacity on a project that has limited potential to build significant positive value in the tax base for the foreseeable future in relation to its cost. Simply put, the interests of promoting “though” traffic can easily be at odds with the interests of neighborhoods (“to” traffic.) Tax increment financing, on the other hand, is all about building value within a district.

Starting out with the removal of millions of dollars in tax base and no near-term prospects for significant new development, a big, wide Thomas Street would be subsidized mostly by unrelated developments far from the street’s project area and almost certainly a good dose of general revenues, too.  Under the prevailing limitations on property taxes, we could easily end up making substantial sacrifices to fund the project. An important additional risk is the potential erosion of taxpayer confidence in the tax increment financing process itself if projects are not thoughtfully advanced with attention to producing sufficient revenue streams of new property taxes from private development that would not otherwise have occurred “but for” the public investments being made via the TIF. (My rule of thumb when I was working with such districts was that I was looking for a net of at least four dollars worth of taxable, private investment for every one dollar of public investment on an overall basis.)

Compare such an outcome with what the specific TIF plan amendment involved states as a couple of its objectives:

-          Reduce the financial risk to the taxpayer by timing the implementation of the Project Plan with the creation of additional property value through business expansions. (Are you seeing that?)

-          Generate new property tax increments within a reasonable time from each specific development project within the TIF District to fully repay the City’s TIF project expenditures associated with the development project. (What do you think the chances are for that?)

You can look at the TIF Plan amendment here and decide if either is likely to happen:

http://www.ci.wausau.wi.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=nBqrhQLZKXI%3D&tabid=133

It’s therefore a good time to be more innovative and cost-efficient, while trying to gain far greater leverage from whatever local dollars we need to invest to create better overall conditions for economic development. And that, after all, is what TIF districts are about.

JR

Shortchanging Wisconsin: GOP mining bill puts citizens last

There has been a lot of talk about SB-1, a rehash of last session’s failed mining bill that will eventually allow Gogebic Taconite to open a $1.5 billion open pit iron mine extending for miles in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. Most of the discussion has centered on environmental regulations and justifiably so. The main thrust of the legislation seems to be removing risk for the mining company and placing it on everyone else. But as egregious as all of that is, the environmental impact is not the only big problem with the bill. There’s also a money problem and it’s surprising how few seem to have their eye on that ball.

In a brief exchange with Sen. Bob Jauch of Poplar, I confirmed something that I already knew about the bill. It proposes to tax the mine based on net proceeds instead of on a per-ton production basis or the gross value. This is a really dumb thing to put into the legislation, unless you happen to own the mine. No legislator who puts the interests of constituents first should ever vote for such a provision.  (Of course, many legislators may not. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign reports that special interests backing the loosening of mining regulations have contributed $15.6 million to the Republican-controlled legislature and GOP Governor Scott Walker between 2010 and 2012. Some of the contributions to individual legislators are truly eye-popping.)

Look, I understand the approach that says if Wisconsin doesn’t have the mine to begin with, then the tax formula is moot. That is certainly true. But there is also a part of me that says we might well end up with that mine. Moreover, we all use a lot of steel and the iron for that has to come from somewhere. But if Wisconsin is to host a mine, then the benefits to the people of this state should be direct, substantial and measurable – and that doesn’t just mean income taxes from in-state workers and some trade from an out-of-state corporation.

We’ve all heard way too much for way too long about multi-billion dollar corporations that pay nothing in income taxes. At the same time, we know that we’re paying taxes to other states every time we fill our gas tanks or flip on the lights with electricity generated from coal-fired power plants because that is the way that severance taxes work. If there is to be an iron mine in Wisconsin, then we need to set up a system in which the state taxpayers are compensated fairly and surely; not some kind of accounting game for a corporation to use to dodge its responsibilities. That’s what companies do because that — along with buying off legislators state Supreme Court seats in a post-Citizens United environment — is what passes for best practices in business these days.

Using profits as the basis for a mining tax provides a loophole big enough to drive an ore train through and that is exactly what will happen. Moreover, a less profitable mine increases the risk that state taxpayers will end up holding the bag for reclamation at some point down the road, a lose-lose proposition. We need to put taxpayers first in line instead of last by adopting a tax that begins with the first ton of production and extends to the last. Taxing profits doesn’t do that and that is why it is a poor policy option.

Taconite is a commodity with a value that can be accurately determined at any point in time. It can be weighed and it is. Those are objective factors to use in determining a mining tax. If our legislators are working in our interests, then that is what they will be employing to ensure the best possible situation for the people they are elected to serve.

JR

Barcelona: An Affordable Mediterranean Jewel

Note: Since I haven’t been very fastidious about updating this month, here’s an online version of the Barcelona feature that I have in City Pages this week; content which is not otherwise available online. We will return to our regular programming soon enough.

Ask most people around central Wisconsin what an ideal getaway might look like at this time of year and many will start with the weather before quickly turning to activities, amenities, art and culture.  Toss in friendly natives, great food, eye-popping architecture and a beach on the sea a bit south of the south of France with far more to recommend it by way of traveler economics and you would have the beginning of a postage stamp picture of Barcelona, Spain.

Founded during the Roman Empire and festooned with Art Nouveau buildings between the late 1800s and World War I, the port city of Barcelona is the place where Columbus returned triumphantly after his first voyage to the New World, Picasso learned to paint and Salvador Dali was born. Antoni Gaudi defined Catalan Modernism more than a century ago with what is still today some of the world’s most creative architecture. Barcelona encompasses all of that in a thriving European city of 1.6 million, where people see themselves far more as Catalans than Spaniards, embracing a unique culture that even includes its own language.

The climate is pleasant and roughly comparable to Atlanta, though a few degrees warmer in the winter months and a few degrees cooler in the summer, with less rain. While it receives its share of tourists and has a thriving hospitality trade today, Barcelona labored under the harsh right wing authoritarian regime of Spain’s infamous dictator, General Francisco Franco, from 1939 until 1975. Ground was quickly recovered with the return of democracy after Franco’s death and by 1992, Barcelona was hosting the Olympics. Spain was among the first wave of countries to replace its currency with the Euro more than a decade ago and while economic issues have loomed large in recent years, Catalonia and its capital have fared better than Spain, overall.

Choosing Barcelona

We’ve used the winter holidays to travel for years because it’s been a time when we could consistently carve out time. Overbooked planes and airport SNAFUs has become an annual media cliché’, but that is not as true of international travel.  The proof has always been in favorable airfares that tend to prevail from November through early March, with little interruption. When Delta opened a new route to Barcelona in 2012, it created an opportunity to cash in miles at the minimum level for a European destination, but we noted that even as this is being written, a trip from CWA in late January could be booked for around $180 less than to Paris. (Speaking of Paris, many people have seen some of the convoluted routings that can appear when trying to book an award ticket. But when one our options included a 22-hour layover in Paris on the way home after an hour and 20 minute flight from Barcelona arriving at noon, we snapped it up in a heartbeat.)

The favorable comparisons didn’t end there. For around $140 a night, we were able to book a spacious apartment featuring a kitchenette and a balcony overlooking La Rambla – Spain’s most famous street and a hub of activity around the clock. We had initially thought we might want to cook up some of the offerings from the incredible public market a block away, but a little experience with the comparatively low dinner tabs soon saw us letting others do the preparation and the dishes.)

Overall, Barcelona is an easy trip for even novice European travelers.   The airport is stunning and simple to get around. Choose a hotel near an Aerobus stop and you will be whisked in from the airport for less than $7 and your 25-minute ride will give you a quick orientation along the way. (You won’t be waiting, since buses depart every five minutes for most of the day and they’re only 10 minutes apart during the slower times.) Once you’re in the city, a 10-trip metro ticket that you can share with companions is less than 10 Euros — about half the cost of buying single-journey tickets.

Dense and compact, Barcelona is one of the most walkable cities that you’ll ever find, but if you want to move a little faster under your own power, bicycle rentals are plentiful and reasonable. An interesting aspect is that the city is filled with extremely narrow streets where one would have a challenging time taking even a modestly-sized car, making it especially inviting to explore by foot or by bicycle. We thought about renting scooters, but not too long. Instead, we spent nearly four hours bicycling on paved, palm-studded pathways along the Mediterranean coast that would have been largely closed to us on motorized vehicles.

What to see

I’ve never considered myself an architectural tourist, but it is an inescapable aspect of Barcelona. From the most extensive collection of subterranean Roman ruins anywhere to a glistening modern seafront along the Mediterranean, Barcelona is historic and contemporary at once. But Gaudi’s work is a must-see for anyone who visits the city. At the top of many lists would be the surreal and still incomplete Sagrada Familia, where Gaudi spent the last 14 years of his life supervising construction and he is buried in a crypt there. Only one of the church’s unique, multiple spires was completed at the time of his death in 1926 at the age of 73, when he was struck by a city tram. Work crews and cranes still labor on the project today, nearly 130 years after it was begun. The massive, iconic edifice draws 2.5 million visitors annually, truly defying description with its sheer complexity.

While Sagrada Familia was Gaudi’s last work and it has been carried on by others since before the Great Depression, it is only the beginning of what he gave to Barcelona. Casa Mila, which is more commonly known as La Pedrera, is an 8-floor apartment building constructed around two courtyards and there are few, if any straight walls in the structure. Completed in 1910, it featured underground car parking; something fairly visionary when you consider that the Ford Motor Company was only three years old when construction on La Pedrera began. For 16.50 Euros, visitors can tour the building, including the incredible rooftop and its Star Wars-looking sculptured ducts and chimneys called espanata-bruixes (witch scarers.) In Gaudi’s world, a courtyard was not simply that, but a “light well” allowing each apartment to be illuminated from the interior of the building as well as by the windows on the exterior side.  Molded balconies flourished with eclectic, leafy wrought iron work to complete the other-worldly motif.

A final Gaudi masterpiece that is worth its admission is Casa Battlo, which was actually a renovation of an existing building. Its iron balconies have been compared to masks in a carnival procession and the over-the-top roof features not only the signature Gaudi treatments for chimneys and ducts, but a colorfully tiled “dragon’s back” portion said to symbolize the legend of St. George. Casa Battlo was declared part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site acknowledging Gaudi’s work as ‘an exceptional and outstanding creative contribution to the development of architecture and building technology which anticipated and influenced many of the forms and techniques that were relevant to the development of modern construction in the 20th century.’

Best of all, the notable works of Antoni Gaudi are only the beginning of a long list of treasures in a city that has meticulously preserved so much of its history, while harmoniously blending in new elements as time goes by. The palatial grounds and fountains of Montjuic, topped by the stately Palau Nacional and the site of the 1992 Summer Olympics are as splendid as any you’ll find and the waterfront developments in the port where Columbus returned mix modern improvements seamlessly into the city’s historic Old Town. Palms and citrus trees with miles of sandy beaches that are completely open to public access finish the picture of a place with a little something for everyone.

What to eat

Spain is well-known for tapas and these menus are available in many different establishments, including restaurants that are dedicated to this Spanish tradition and many bars. There are certain popular items and signature offerings at some places, but tapas are really whatever they happen to be. It’s not a matter of certain ingredients or a style of cooking. Tapas dishes can be hot, cold, raw, deep-fried, grilled or roasted. While often featuring meat or seafood, it can also be vegetables. It is also not simply an appetizer.

The story has it that tapas began as something to cover glasses in bars to keep bugs from getting into the drinks and it evolved from there.  Today, tapas courses need not be quite so functional and so they can be whatever the chef has in mind, but they retain the tradition of being small courses. The best advice was from a server who said to think of a tapas course as a “half meal” and that turned out to be about right.  We enjoyed shrimp, calamari, octopus, chicken, small salads, potatoes and more as we made our way around a few of the many tapas outlets. As a major port city on the Mediterranean, seafood is particularly popular and it is as fresh and fabulous as it comes. Tapas are the best way to eat in Barcelona because they provide the opportunity to taste a wider variety of foods without investing too much risk in one particular offering.  (That’s something that I’ve wished I could do back home on more than one occasion.) A typical meal for two with wine and dessert regularly fell between 55 and 65 Euros; less than what we see in Paris by perhaps 30 percent.  Unlike France, gratuities are generally not included.

We also enjoyed some excellent food in al fresco restaurants surrounding the Mercat de Sant Josep, which is Barcelona’s fabulous public market, also known as La Boqueria. This is a place for food and it doesn’t fall short in any aspect. Fresh seafood, produce, wines, candy, meats, bakery, mushrooms, sausages, olives; La Boqueria literally has everything from soup to nuts. This market is colorful, vibrant, noisy, crowded, compact and completely authentic, with not a single souvenir vendor in sight.

One item that has numerous vendors is something that must be akin to the national food of Catalonia, jamon iberico. It’s an aged ham that has some similarity to Italian prosciutto. It comes in three different grades that start on the low end at a price per pound higher than lobster and it goes up from there.  All jamon iberico is made from black Iberian pigs and the grade is largely determined by the diet of the pigs, the curing and the reputation of the maker. The highest grade ham is from free-range pigs that are raised along the border with Portugal and dine on acorns during the weeks before they are harvested.   The ham is cured for several years, removing much of the moisture.

At the La Boqueria and other places where jamon iberico is served from the whole ham, the meat is shaved in paper-thin slices. The black hoof remains attached to show customers that they are getting the real thing and not simply some random domestic farm animal. It is very flavorful and a staple in many tapas recipes. A little goes a long way and that’s a good thing because it’s so pricey. But in Barcelona, the stuff is everywhere, including little packages with a few shaved slices in even the smallest grocery stores. It makes a great sandwich on a fresh baguette and it’s easy to see how people get used to having it around. (Very little true jamon iberico ever makes it out of Spain to the U.S. – not even the jamon-flavored Ruffles potato chips that we found in the grocery store.)

As for what to wash that all down with, beer is popular, just as it is almost anywhere in western Europe. Sangria, a punch-like drink made from wine, fruits and some carbonated water or fruity soda, is something that you need to try. It’s tasty and a great way to make use of heavy red Spanish wines —  (although I wouldn’t do this with a nice bottle of Bordeaux, any more than I would pour Coca Cola into Cognac.) But my personal favorite beverage in Barcelona is cava, which is Spain’s version of champagne. It is inexpensive and very well done. (You can get it here at home in many outlets and the most common I’ve seen is Freixenet, which you’ll find in a black bottle among the sparkling wines. It’s a tremendous value and interestingly enough, that one maker of cava puts out more volume than all of the champagne makers of France put together.)

What to watch out for

Barcelona is famous for pickpockets and other property crimes of snatch-and-run variety. People need to secure their valuables in a far more conscientious manner than what is typical in central Wisconsin. Leaving your laptop, Ipad, digital camera or cell phone on a restaurant table is asking to have these things stolen. This not a place to keep your wallet in your back pocket, drape your purse strap over one shoulder or hang a bag on your chair in a restaurant. (Personally, I like jackets with interior zippered pockets.) Don’t wear backpacks or fanny packs, as a matter of routine. Skip the fancy jewelry and watches. Keep things like passports, extra credit cards, excess cash or anything else you don’t have a real need for back in the hotel safe. I’ve never lost a nickel in dozens of trips to Europe, but a typical day in Barcelona includes hundreds of thefts and tourists are a prime target. Ignore people who ask for change, directions or anything else. Stay away from hookers, (which are legion in this long-time seafaring town and sometimes fairly aggressive.) Understand that while the Spanish like to stay out late, it may not be your best move if it means navigating your way home down narrow, lonely streets.  By remaining alert and avoiding situations that could make can you a target, you can enjoy your trip with far less risk than you will experience by being naïve.

JR

Apple dumplings: ridiculously tasty and easy

Okay, time for a recipe. We have a small cult following for our recipes here and it’s been awhile, so we cranked up the test kitchen for this recipe from allrecipies.com and it’s definitely a winner.

Ingredients:
- 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
- 2 – 10 oz. cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
- 2 sticks of butter (1 cup; a half pound)
- 1-1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 12 oz. of Mountain Dew (yes, you read that right!) 

1.  Preheat your over to 350 degrees F.

2.  Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.

3.  Cut each apple into 8 wedges. Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in a crescent roll triangle, starting with the smallest end. Just kind of stretch it around the apple and pinch it to seal each one. (They don’t have to look great, at this point.) Place them in the baking dish as you go along.

4.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar and cinnamon. Pour it over the apple dumplings and when you’re finished with that, pour your Mountain Dew over the dumplings. (Yes, we know this seems weird and you feel like you’re wrecking something with this step. You’re not!)

5.  Bake for 35-45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.
We like to let them rest a few minutes after taking them out of the oven, but there really are no rules. A small bowl works great and if you want to gild the lily a bit, you can crown them with a dollop of whipped cream or a bit of ice cream.
Bon appetit!

 

JR

An inauguration and a Forrest Gump moment

Last Monday, while walking through the Barri Gotic neighborhood in Barcelona, we stumbled upon what was obviously a big event; tons of people, media, security, ceremonial guards — and this red carpet. A car pulled up, a great cheer arose from the waiting crowd and a well-dressed fellow acknowledged the people as he headed into the building, which was the Generalitat de Catalunya.  Asking a nearby shopkeeper, we learned we had accidentally shown up for the arrival of Artur Mas to his inauguration. Mas is the newly re-elected President of Catalonia, an autonomous region in the northeast of Spain where they don’t like bullfighting and a lot of other things.

This is a place that most of us probably haven’t thought much about, but we may be hearing more going forward.  Mas has promised to press the issue of Catalan independence with Madrid, which would be a very big deal. As Brad Plumer wrote for the Washington Post prior to the November election in Catalonia:

“Catalan nationalism isn’t exactly a new force. The region, which borders France, has its own language and has long seen itself as distinct from the rest of the country. But calls for independence have been growing louder during the euro zone debt crisis. Back in September, 1.5 million Catalans took to the streets for a pro-independence rally. 

One big recent issue is taxes. As my colleague Edward Cody recently reported, Catalonia is one of the wealthiest regions of Spain, and many Catalans feel that their taxes are being used to subsidize other, poorer states. When the Spanish economy was booming, that was an annoyance. Now that Spain is locked in a never-ending recession, with unemployment at 25 percent, Catalans want a greater say in their own finances.”

Over the years, the Basque separatist movement has simmered and occasionally boiled over in the northwest of Spain, too.  It will be interesting to see if a referendum on independence is forthcoming in Catalonia, how it might turn out — and whether the current economic problems will combine with a long-standing desire for complete autonomy to change the face of Spain. But if it does, I suppose I would be even more grateful for having accidentally walked into a little piece of history that forced me to learn something about what was going on around us.

JR

Barcelona independence march, Sept. 11, 2012: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19565464

It’s past time to look for real solutions to U.S. gun violence

I’ve been a gun owner and a shooter for almost as long as I can remember. We grew up with guns, starting with BB guns and then up through sporting arms. For several years, I wrote freelance articles on the side for dozens of regional and national sporting publications in the ‘hook & bullet’ genre and I’ve hunted from Saskatchewan to the Mexican border. I hung it up a number of years back, but I’m not part of the anti-gun lobby; not by a long shot. Occasionally, I still head out to the range.

I also don’t believe that the Second amendment is about hunting. That wasn’t the concern when it was written. The purpose was to leave arms in the hands of the people against the potential for being enslaved by an oppressive government. Anyone who reads the Constitution quickly realizes that the document is not a list of rights given to people by the government. Instead, it is a list of limitations on government from the perspective of people who saw the need to vest ultimate control in the hands of the citizenry.

Having said all of that, I think it is long past time for a frank and open discussion about gun violence in this country and what we, as a society, ought to be doing about it. And if the answer continues to be the same old National Rifle Association bullpucky about trying to say that the founders meant to anticipate all of the technological improvements in firearms that have occurred over the past 220 years, then that is going to be the wrong answer.  The founders mostly understood things like flintlock, muzzle-loading single-shot weapons as the “arms” for which they were retaining rights in the Bill of Rights. That’s what people had and that’s what they knew.

Anything that matters in this area of the law is going to be a hassle for people like me. I understand that. There are a lot of things that are a hassle. Take a flight, attend an appearance of the President, go to a major sporting event or try to do a lot of other things. Times have changed since I was a kid.  They’ve changed even more since 18 years before Abraham Lincoln was born and the Bill of Rights was being enacted. And while the founders did some pretty good work, they left some work for the people of this country in succeeding generations to clean up long after they were finished, too – (little things like women having the right to vote or dealing with slavery, as a couple of examples.)

Like many others, I read the barrage of campaign mailings from the NRA in the last election. It provided some great guidance to know who that group was supporting and opposing, (although not necessarily in the same manner that these folks were intending.) If you want to read the NRA’s candidate questionnaire — filled with loaded questions and their expectations for legislators to be just as unreasonable as they are — you can read it here, (complete with the responses of a New York GOP primary candidate, who, thankfully, lost.):

http://russellforcongress.com/wp-content/uploads/NRA-Candidate-Questionnaire.pdf

Maybe the answer is different for Wyoming than it is for Connecticut. Maybe we need to look at this provision of our Constitution and alter it, as we have done in the past when we found things that no longer reflected our needs and values.  There won’t be a silver bullet. But if we want to solve 21^st Century problems, we can’t continue to rely upon the NRA and its unbending, never-ending insistence on the same old 18^th Century response. And we can’t rely on legislators who pledge allegiance to the NRA in the face of the carnage we continue to experience as a result of our failure to deal with firearms violence in this country. Those who steadfastly refuse to be part of the solution are part of the problem.

JR

A timeline of mass shootings since Columbine:

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/12/14/1337221/a-timeline-of-mass-shootings-in-the-us-since-columbine/ 

Former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough: “It is time for Congress to put children before deadly dogmas. It’s time for politicians to start focusing more on protecting our schoolyards than putting together their next fundraiser.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/joe-scarborough-newtown-shooting_n_2315100.html