On Tuesday evening, August 27 I sat in the front row of the Planning Commission meeting for no other reason than to bear witness. I heard one woman seated behind me comment on how wonderful it was to see the many “decent” young families in attendance. That comment begs the question, as opposed to whom?
As opposed to the young woman at Mr. Varise’ Townhall describing her family’s tradition of learning gun safety at an early age? Or the scout leader (volunteer) describing the lengths with which he has to go in order to help his young scouts obtain their merit badge? Or perhaps she was comparing these young families to the off-duty and retired law enforcement families who have come forward in support of this business proposal? Hard to say.
What is clear is Mr. McNamara’s letter to the editor dated July 31, 2019 “Sporting Goods Store Plans Should Move Forward” is spot on. The letter writer called out ideologies and identified them as soft bigotry. And his observations were driven home during Tuesday’s Planning Commission.
What I heard sounded no different, to me, than Donald Trump lumping all Mexican immigrants in with violent drug cartels. Despite all of the laws California has passed, the many hoops California gun owners jump through, because the NRA continues to quash commonsense gun laws at the national level, legal and responsible Martinez gun owners should expect further ostracization and even greater restrictions.
It really was hard to distinguish between what was said with any other form of profiling.
As everyone girds themselves up for their next hurdle, storming the castle at city council, I’d like to add one point of clarification. Howe Rd. is in the city of Martinez. Canyon Sports is on Howe Rd. In the city of Martinez the sale of firearms and ammunition is already taking place.
– Linda Meza
CORRECTION: Last week’s letter, entitled ‘Man plans, God laughs’ was printed without attribution. Linda Meza was the author and that should have been included. We apologize for the omission.