Well, I just now secured access to the computer. >
My stepson will not be the only one in the house who will be glad when finals week is over!
The abbreviated version of the meeting was that is was about what I expected, however it was not nearly as bad as I feared it had the potential to be. What we need to focus on for the upcoming meeting is
FACTS and
STATISTICS.
I will give credit to Chief Paulsen for making it a point to note that gun control is not behavioral control and is not the answer to stopping criminal acts. He also said that places displaying no gun signage were invitations to criminals for a free lunch.
The Chief stated his biggest problem with the Nebraska CHP is the training requirements. I do agree with him that the training required to get a CHP is not anywhere in the vicinity of the ballpark as what police officers are required to receive, but I do not agree with him that it is a downfall of the permit. In my opinion, common sense would dictate that most officers should probably expect to have to at least unholster if not fire their weapons at some point in the course of their careers while most CHP permit holders will live their entire lifetimes without ever having to actually pull their weapon in self defense. Also, I do not have any statistics on this, but I would be willing to make the statement that most CHP holders train more with their firearms than they are required to by law.
My biggest problem with Chief Paulsen's presentation was that his focus seemed to be that this was going to big a big hassle for both the City and the Fire/Rescue Dept. He said that there would have to be numerous meetings and several ordinances that would have to be passed in order to bring Plattsmouth's ordinances in line with state law to ensure that permit holders who violated the terms of their permit would be subject to revocation. He seemed fixated on the fact that a state issued permit could not be revoked due to a violation of a local ordinance. What I don't understand is why he can't see that if the towns ordinance mirrored the state's, then if a town ordinance was violated, then the state law would be violated as well. In fact, the town does not even need an ordinance as the state law already dictates the guidlines a permit holder must follow. All we need to do is exempt permit holders from the town ordinance and all is well. He also made a big point about how big of a problem it would be for the rescue squad to handle a firearm in the event that the emergency room would not accept it upon arrival. Honestly, this argument was so lame that it is hard for me to make an intelligent comment on it. As a former Asst. Fire Chief and driver of a rescue squad for a department outside of Plattsmouth, I can tell you that it took about 5 minutes in one of our meetings to address our protocol on this. It is a non issue. And another thing, as a former town board member myself in my town, I will say that the purpose of the town board, and the Fire Department for that matter, is to serve the wishes of the people of the community, and I don't care if it takes 50 meetings and 100 ordinances, if it is the will of the people and in the best interest of the community, then that is what needs to be done.
As far as the organizational meeting, we do not have a specific time or location set yet. I did mention that Godfather's worked out well last time, but whatever works out best for all that can make it is fine with me.
