Pubdate: Fri, 11 Oct 2002 Source: Arizona Republic (AZ) Copyright: 2002 The Arizona Republic Contact: http://www.arizonarepublic.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24 Author: Dan Durrenberger Note: Dan Durrenberger is a 30-year resident of the East Valley who lives in Tempe and works in Mesa. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) HOW DUMB ARE WE? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS A recent nationwide survey concluded that Arizona is the seventh dumbest of the 50 states. Six states are dumber than we are. Forty- three states are smarter. The people dumber than we are live (in descending order of intelligence) in Hawaii, Nevada, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico. The folks who aren't as dumb as we are live everywhere else. Question. Do we really need a national survey to tell us what's already abundantly apparent? No. In fact, we need look no further than Mesa and the proponents of Proposition 203 to make Arizona's convincing case for stupidity. Consider two proposals now pending. The first would require the Mesa Police Department to sell to gun dealers (rather than continue to destroy) its annual inventory of confiscated weapons. Here's how the new plan would work. Criminal A has his or her gun seized in 2002. Criminal wannabe buys it back in 2003. How completely dumb is that? We're repeatedly told of the many dangers faced by the brave men and women of law enforcement. The mantra is as unyielding as it is compelling. Well, in light is this nutty idea, it's either not as dangerous as we're constantly led to believe, or it's every bit as dangerous and the makers of public policy don't care. It's either one or the other. It can't be both. Putting guns back into the community doesn't make the community any safer, particularly for the police. It is against this conflicted backdrop that Mesa's City Council would require Mesa's police to sell the very things that criminals routinely use to shoot them and their professional peers. It's estimated the sale of the illicit guns will earn the city a whopping $32,000 a year. The guns in question come from Mesa's mean streets. And, once they're resold by Mesa police, many of them will return to those same mean, if not meaner, streets. It's just a matter of time. Tick tock goes the clock. Mesa takes a snooze. Just wait until a Mesa patrolman or detective is gunned down and killed with a gun sold to his or her assailant by that officer's own employer, the supposedly risk-adverse municipality of Mesa. Why would a politician want to take that chance? Or get pinned to the wall with well-deserved blame when the inevitable finally happens? It may make twisted ideological sense, but it sure doesn't make any common or symbolic sense. None. Why this issue has arisen so suddenly is equally puzzling. You wonder who took whom to lunch, what they said and what was promised. There's no other explanation, because there's no reason or pressing public need that justifies reversal of the city's long-standing policy regarding the destruction of its captured guns. If you want a gun, go buy one. Buy two. Own three. Fill your closet. But, dictating that the Mesa Police Department must aid and abet the resale of the guns it has impounded in the most questionable of circumstances does a disservice to every member of the so-called thin blue line. Meanwhile, dumb ideas aren't limited to Mesa. Goodness knows, Arizona is a big state. There's plenty of room for dummies. Take, as our second example, Proposition 303. If enacted, it will require the Arizona Department of Public Safety to distribute free drugs. It's an awkward and unworthy task that the agency is neither equipped, by temperament or training, to do. Nonetheless, with the wave of a ballot this November, East Valley voters and voters statewide can turn the esteemed men and women of Arizona's Department of Public Safety into state-sanctioned drug dealers. That prospect is beyond pathetic. The decriminalization of marijuana is one thing. And, the use of marijuana for medical purposes is another. But, making the Highway Patrol dole out pot is contrary to the department's natural culture. With one hand and a warrant, DPS will take away your drugs. With the other hand and a prescription, DPS will give them back. It will be internally divisive and adversely affect departmental morale. Imagine. Two of Arizona's largest police agencies peddling used guns and distributing free dope. What's wrong with that picture? A whole lot more than people choose to appreciate or care to admit. And, that's why Arizona is such a dumb state. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager