- April 28, 2024
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+ Gun buy-back is merely a scheme and will be ineffective
Dear Editor:
Sheriff Fleming is doing a fine job. But his gun “buy-back” program is just another scheme, and is merely another anti-gun statement by an elected official who feels ordinary citizens should not be allowed to possess firearms.
The sheriff has earned a grade of “C” when it comes to protecting a citizen’s Second Amendment rights. His plan will serve only as a feel-good measure. Its purpose is to show that he is doing something about illegal weapons on our streets — even though it’s been proven time and time again throughout the nation that these buy-back programs are ineffective in reducing gun-related crimes.
Gun buy-backs across the country have proven to be a complete failure and waste of taxpayer dollars. The average person who voluntarily surrenders a firearm to police is not a criminal, and the firearms surrendered are not those misused by criminals. A program such as this opens the door to potential misappropriation of funds, while in no way deterring or reducing violent crime. The program is funded by the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners, and local businesses are encouraged to donate. Do the grant and other donations cover miscellaneous expenses and the salaries of the deputies who are participating in this four-hour buy-back plan? Seven thousand dollars doesn’t go far if it’s expected to cover all the expenses of such a theatrical maneuver.
Moreover, this or any gun buy-back program is misnamed since we did not buy our firearms from the government. It is not the proper role of government to get or be in the gun (collection) business.
Carl Marco
Palm Coast
+ Solution: Require date and address on garage sale signs
Dear Editor:
I’m amazed the city of Palm Coast will actively remove garage sale signs but every year we are subjected to all the political signs, which I think are more of a blight on the landscape.
I think I have a solution to the garage-sale-sign problem: Allow people to put up signs to advertise a garage sale but they must have the date and address. If the sign is left up 24 hours after the date it would be a code violation subject to a fine. If the date and address isn’t on the sign, the workers would remove them.
Frank Avolio
Palm Coast
+ Political signs make the cityscape ugly; enforce the code
Dear Editor:
Over the past eight months I have watched a proliferation of illegal signs pop up around town. It began with roofing companies and painting companies leaving their advertising signs in the yards of homes where they had performed work. These signs are still up.
Next came signs on public lands for pools and contractor service. Now, political signs around town have ruined our cityscape. When our church was just beginning, we put out signs on Sunday mornings and had them picked up by 1 p.m. the same day. We were called out on it by the Code Enforcement department. Where are they now?
We have newspapers and radio here; I am certain they would appreciate the advertising. Get those political signs out of here.
Stephanie Richards
Palm Coast
IN DEFENSE OF CLOSED PRIMARIES
+ Reagan Republicans don’t deserve the criticism
Dear Editor:
In Ed Caroe’s Aug. 4 letter in the Palm Coast Observer, he accused our organization and some of our members of being extremists and even made a Nazi reference without using the word.
I realize that the source of Ed’s anger is that he (a campaign adviser for an incumbent County Commissioner) planned for heavy Democratic support in a Republican primary, but that his candidate must now face only Republican voters in the primary. The Flagler County Democratic Party disenfranchised their voters by not qualifying a candidate for that race.
Mr. Caroe’s chosen candidate (an incumbent commissioner) and his colleagues on the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners are the ones guilty of disenfranchising all the voters of Flagler County (all 67,814) by refusing to place the new half-cent sales tax on the November ballot.
This is a new tax; the 10-year tax approved by Flagler County voters sunsets Dec. 31. These commissioners wish to invoke the tax without taxpayer input on what was described by one supporter as a “forever tax.” They will not allow the voters to decide this issue as was done 10 years ago. That’s real disenfranchisement.
The Ronald Reagan Republican Assembly of Flagler believes that the powers of our government derive from the “consent of the governed” and that all political power flows from the citizens upward. All Flagler County citizens who agree with that “extremist” view, we invite you to join us.
Bob Hamby, President
Ronald Reagan Republican Assembly of Flagler
+ It’s not a ‘flaw’; let’s clear up what the law says
Dear Editor:
Thirteen states, including Florida, have closed primaries.This is not a loop hole, it is state law.
This is from the Florida Board of Elections: “If all the candidates for an office have the same party affiliation and the winner of the primary election will not face any opposition in the general election (i.e., no write-in candidates have qualified), then all registered voters can vote for any of the candidates for that office in the primary election. ...
“At a general election, all registered voters receive the same ballot and may vote for any candidate or question on the ballot. If there are write-in candidates who have qualified for a particular office, a space will be left on the ballot where their name can be written.”
This is not a “flaw in the law,” it is the law.
Mr. Caroe, show me where it is written that you must agree with extreme views in order to vote.
“Extremism and hateful actions”? That viewpoint seems to be coming from those Republican incumbents who are being challenged in this election.
Linda Hansen
Palm Coast
