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p 4jhe yribuwf 138 st ihetkibune tuesday march 31 1998 vol110no25 the tribune is a member of the ontario press council comment op inioris send your letters to the editor to the address below or editorial good riddance to all firearms the jonesboro tragedy in the united states last week and the shooting of an innocent bystander at a toronto nightclub this weekend illustrates yet again that the use of firearms has stretched all reason behind the gun lobbys message that it is not guns but people that kill people the right to participate in socalled shooting sports comes under serious scrutiny when the tools of the activity are used in this fashion what possible positive use could a person have for owning a weapon of destruction there really is no logical argument for owning a gun we spend billions on police and protection and for what to stop people from shooting us in our beds americans protect their constitutional right to bear arms with rabid determination but surely the days when one had to protect hearth and home from wild animals and enemy troops can be put behind us the firearm has no place in a civilized society surely aside from subsistence hunting there is no clear reason why ownership of a gun should be allowed the argument for free access to sport is far outweighed by the consequences of a shooting spree more than 4000 children go to school in the us carrying a gun more than 500 died from gunshot wounds last year canadas numbers are proportionate to the population why do ve permit this guns have got to go honef thafe great youre willing id donate your blankeyto theinus program for kids in hospital guns have got to go t does your brother paint with his toes everyone has a storv to tell or diver fortune teller or undercov- home than a commercial eree everyone has a story to tell or at least knows one that should be told maybe you know a neighbour who has invented some gadget that could potentially be worth millions o dollars perhaps your special needs child will suffer because of gov ernment cutbacks kibbles bits tracy kibble you might have a friend that lives an exciting or interesting lifestyle a drag car racer sky diver fortune teller or undercov er police officer the woman down the street might have the craziest time schedule juggling kids a job housework and evening charity duties maybe your grandmother aunt or cousin has a collection of dolls like youve never seen before or has more plants in her its a dirty job so wheres the man more than halfway through mr walletheads pub crawl around eng land i am forced to recognize that men do have their uses hardly had his plane touched down on the limey landscape before light bulbs at chateau gilderdale began to give up the ghost en masse while i acknowledge that it takes only one columnist to change a light bulb this particular task has traditionally fallen to my spouse in other words its not my job i do the garbage he fixes broken stuff i cook he wallpapers i read the paper he buys mutual funds i shovel the kitchen floor he shovels the drive way naturally we had a mega snow storm the weekend after he and bis golf clubs left home and it wasnt the light fluffy stuff either so there i was forced to engage in unnatural exercise just to get my environmen tally unfriendly rust bucket out of the garage and slithering towards the j video emporium the real car which is the one he usually drives had also left home courtesy of my daughter when she firsf heard her daddy was going away her regret at his imminent absence was considerably tempered kates corner kate gilderdale by the realization that we were about to become something many teenagers only dream of- a twoper son twocar family it also meant she got custody of the automatic since she has not yet learned to mangle the gears on the standard soon after mr fixit left she came to me with a problem the tires on her car were squealing i think they may need some air she suggested looking to me for guid ance with touching albeit misplaced optimism it was like asking martha stewart for tips on nuking water and coffee granules i had to explain that in all my years on the planet i had not yet mastered the intricate art of pumping air into car tires i hadnt even fig ured out how to read those newfan gled gauges at the gas station to see if they needed air in fact were i not married to a grounded sensible man it would never have occurred to me that car tires are incapable of self- inflation i share this woefully slapdash atti tude with an otherwise intelligent friend who once lent us her car we hadnt been on the 401 for two min utes before himself remarked that there was something seriously wrong with the steering further investigation revealed that while the manual recommended a pressure of 28 none of the tires scored more than 19 and one was hovering around 7 when did you last put air in asked my husband ive never put any in replied my friend cheerfully i dont know how hm she confessed she had vaguely wondered why her car seemed bent on going left or right when she was pointing it straight ahead its at times like this i question womens determination not only to be regard ed as equal but to do the boring jobs which have traditionally been the province of poor beleaguered blokes and if equality means changing tires cleaning eaves troughs or heft ing salt bags to the water softener ill happily betray the sisterhood and leave it to beaver v home than a commercial green house you notice every night the kids next door rehearse with their band or sing for hours in the garage or maybe your father makes a killer chili sauce rhubarb pie or meatloaf that is worthy of a label is there a teacher you know who goes well beyond the call of duty with his or her students or do you know someone who has beat the odds whatever they may be does your brother paint with his toes or meditate before soc cer practice do you speak more than two languages we want to tell your stories the tribune is looking for pro files of people in the community to feature photograph and pub lish we want to know the people behind the doors and windows that make up this unique ontario town sometimes these stories can set right an injustice educate others about a topic they know nothing about create controversy inspi ration disgust or sympathy readers often react to these articles in a positive way offer ing advice or sharing similar experiences so if you want your story told or know someone who would want to tell their story call tracy jcibble tribune editor at 294- 2200 to discuss the issue well assign a writer and a pho tographer and tell you when the article will be published stouffville trtbuime patricia pappas publisher andrew mair editorinchief tracy kibble editor debra weller director of advertising mike rogerson retail advertising manager stacey allen classified manager barry goodyear director of distribution vivian oneil business manager pamela nichols operations manager about us news 9056402100 retail saleb 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