The story behind the gun story

I’m quite often surprised by how non-North Forkers view North Fork residents. They seem to think that because we live in a remote, rural area that we are out of touch with the “real” world.

Just because we love the forest, clear running water, the mountains and the wildlife doesn’t mean we’re out of touch and uninvolved in what goes on in the rest of the county or the state and nation.

Many households have TV, radio or satellite phones and watch or listen to local, state and world news to stay informed. Moreover, we’re involved.

More than a dozen North Fork residents are members of North Valley Search and Rescue. The vast majority of missions involve helping visitors to the North Fork. Two North Fork residents serve on the School District 6 Board of Trustees, one is on the ALERT Helicopter Board of Directors, another is chairman of the Flathead County Fire Service Area, one landowner is mayor of Whitefish and another is a Whitefish city councilor.

We all shop in the Flathead, many attend church, school activities, etc., and I would bet we have a higher percentage of registered voters than most communities. This winter, we have noted with a combination of amusement and concern the antics of our state representative.

First, he wanted to be paid in gold and silver, which was denied. Then he introduced several bills with little or no chance of being passed.

Among them was a proposal to subject criminals to corporal punishment instead of jail time. Another would treat corporations as individuals. Another would allow students to take guns to school where they could be kept in a locked vehicle or locked inside a container in the school.

His perceived need for this law was apparently because he and his supporters felt they had “saved” a Columbia Falls girl from expulsion after she was caught with a rifle in the trunk of her car. In fact, she was out of school longer than she would have been if they had not interfered to make the expulsion hearing a media event in order to promote their own political agenda.

Federal law requires a principal to suspend any student caught with a gun on school property and to recommend expulsion for a minimum of one year. That can only be done by the School District Board of Trustees, and they have the power to expel the student or to return the student to school. In each of several previous cases — all similar to the girl’s — the students were returned to school. That is also how this girl was handled except that the expulsion hearing was delayed for several days while an attorney was being hired (and the media could be given misleading information).

I’m a former NRA member, own multiple handguns, rifle and shotguns and a good supply of ammunition, but in today’s world, students have no need to bring guns to school. Hunter safety classes are taught in the evening in classrooms, and other exceptions can be made for educational purposes. Even if Montana passed this law, federal law still takes precedence. Current law, in my opinion, is enough.

What do you think?