Time to force issue on concealed carry
To the editor:
This month the Thune amendment was defeated in the U.S. Senate. It would have required all states to recognize with "full faith and credit" a concealed weapons license issued by another state, as they are now required to recognize driver's licenses and marriage licenses.
I have a suggestion for state legislation that might force this issue to resolution. Nevada and the other 40 or so states that have passed "shall issue" concealed-carry laws should pass license reciprocity legislation similar to the following:
1. Change the state-issued concealed-carry "permit" to a "license." It is a slight legal difference.
2. Pass a law that mandates if any state does not recognize the driver's licenses, marriage licenses, and concealed-carry licenses issued by Nevada, then Nevada will not recognize any of the driver's, marriage or concealed-carry licenses issued by that state.
To clarify: This does not mean that if a state does not recognize our concealed-carry license, we wouldn't recognize theirs but would continue honoring driver's and marriage licenses. It means if you do not recognize all of our licenses, including the concealed-carry license, we do not recognize any of your licenses, including marriage and driver's licenses.
If the 40 or so "shall issue" concealed-carry states passed this legislation, the remaining 10 states would be forced into compliance, or their residents would be isolated, unable to drive or even bear legitimate children in most other states.
John M. McGrail
LAS VEGAS
Processed meats
To the editor:
In response to your Sunday editorial, "Plaintiffs never lose in the lawsuit lottery":
As a dietitian with the organization that filed a lawsuit seeking health warning labels on hot dogs, I think all consumers deserve to know about the conclusive scientific evidence linking processed meat to colorectal cancer, a disease that kills 50,000 Americans every year.
A landmark 2007 report released by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund concluded that no amount of processed meat can be considered safe to eat. After analyzing 58 large, peer-reviewed studies, researchers found that processed meats increase colorectal cancer risk by 21 percent for every 50 grams consumed daily (a typical hot dog is about 50 grams).
Like the vast majority of consumers, the plaintiffs in this case previously were unaware of the health risks associated with eating hot dogs and other processed meats.
But now they are working with our organization to ensure other consumers know that processed meat intake can seriously impact their long-term health.
Krista Haynes
WASHINGTON, D.C.
THE WRITER IS STAFF DIETITIAN FOR THE CANCER PROJECT.
No job, no house
To the editor:
When it comes to a housing turnaround, never look at the headlines only the chart ("New-home sales climb in June," Tuesday Review-Journal). Housing will take a very long time to recover because it usually requires credit, and credit usually requires a job.
Here in Las Vegas, with the exception of a few retirees straggling in, the housing market is a zero-sum game. Lured by a nearly free-down-payment tax rebate of up to $8,000, courtesy of the federal government, apartment renters are migrating into foreclosed homes. Once the credit goes away, so might the great housing boom of 2009.
Richard Rychtarik
LAS VEGAS
Socioeconomic factors
To the editor:
In reading Monday's article on a study that found middle-class African-American children raised in poor neighborhoods are more likely to slip down the ladder of success, I noted little reference to whether the children were raised in a two-parent household.
The fact that 72 percent of African-American children are born out of wedlock must have a bearing on how and where they are raised and whether there are two parents in the home. Couple this with the fact that 37 percent of all American abortions are to African-American women, and this could make the above numbers even worse if these women did not have access to abortion clinics.
It may be that the study conducted by Pew is too narrowly focused. The sociologist who wrote the report suggests researchers still need to pinpoint the factors that matter the most.
Maybe they should consider the single parent/out-of-wedlock issue?
Douglas Dunlap
LAS VEGAS
Neutered lap dogs
To the editor:
Under the Bush administration, the press were like vicious attack dogs. Amazingly, when Barack Obama became president, they began acting like neutered lap dogs.
Now, at White House news conferences, the press behave like 16-year-old groupies. It appears the entire mainstream media are not only cheerleaders for President Obama, but the propaganda arm of the entire administration.
I cannot watch the evening news without holding my nose and reaching for an air sickness bag.
James Boren
LOGANDALE
