Letters to the Editor

Readers write: Letters to the editor, Oct. 8, 2015

Cox’s view lacks perspective

I can't help but comment on Dr. Cox's callous observations about the plight of the citizens of King Cove (ADN, Oct. 5). The cannery has been active there since the early 1900s and the Aleuts have been there for at least 4,000 years. King Cove was locked in place (forever to be roadless) by the passage of the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. These weren't Alaska people pushing that legislation through.

The state of Alaska has offered to trade about 43,000 acres in exchange for the 17-mile corridor (approximately 103.8 acres assuming a 50-foot wide corridor). Not a bad trade.

All of this is apparently about the black brant. I suppose while Dr. Cox is walking down a plowed sidewalk from his heated office, to his favorite latte shop in Nome, and the poor folks in Teller are walking or dog sledding from Teller (estimated population 268) to his clinic, the citizens in King Cove (estimated population 938) will be hoping for the weather to clear to make the trek through the swamps of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to Cold Bay for a flight to Anchorage, weather permitting of course.

As for me, I'll be hunting black brant.

— Lawrence G. Brown

Soldotna

Repealing of traffic laws

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I have seen several arguments against more responsible gun legislation, such as closing gun show loopholes and a federal database. I have also seen pro-gun advocates dismiss these common-sense restrictions as being unnecessary because those who break the law won't abide by them anyway.

With this in mind, I'd like to petition to remove all traffic regulations, including license requirements and speed limits. As they have stated, only law abiding citizens will obey them and lawbreakers will continue to drive drunk, recklessly, without licenses and insurance.

In addition, we might as well repeal any restrictions against Spice, as clearly it's only keeping Spice out of the hands of law abiding citizens and will do nothing to discourage lawbreaking.

Or perhaps, this is flawed reasoning and the gun arguments presented above follow the same flawed logic.

— Russell Brown

Anchorage

The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.

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