A gun range in a dense neighborhood?

"Opponents of front yard gun range to petition state for new law"
Patrick Leary lives in a dense residential neighborhood in Florida and has children. His next door neighbor, Joey Carannante, owns several guns and didn’t like driving to a gun range to shoot his guns, so he set one up in his yard, within 30 feet of Leary’s home. Under current law, this is perfectly legal. Leary launched a petition last week to outlaw homemade gun ranges in residential areas and had 1,600 people sign it the first day. He is being supported by several local political leaders and police men, but local officials have little power in this situation since in 1987 the Florida legislature passed a law saying state statutes pertaining to gun regulations supersede those of local municipalities.

This example shows the importance of the right to petition, so that citizens can have an impact on local and state laws by gaining popular support.  With the huge number of people standing behind Patrick Leary, this will likely show people that it is possible to take action and get laws changed by being active and showing civic virtue.

Thankfully, I have full confidence that this will be a successful petition and the state law will be changed. It is ridiculous that people can have private gun ranges in their yards in residential neighborhoods.

Good luck hacking us again North Korea

The article, "U.S. Government to Announce New Cyber Threat Center," discusses the announcement of the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center that will be a national center that analyzes cyber security threats. It will attempt to "connect the dots" between threats and inform agencies about these threats, hopefully before hackers can do any damage. The creation of this agency follows President Obama's promise to combat cyber threats that he made during his State of the Union Address closely after the cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.

This agency will hopefully stop cyber threats in this country before they happen as hacking becomes an even more dangerous word. No agency previously had the responsibility of analyzing cyber security threats throughout the country and connecting the threats, so the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center is a new investment that should pay off. I think that this is a necessary step in keeping our country safe, since cyber warfare is becoming a larger threat. Hopefully it will be a thing of the past, but chances are slim.

Measles spark vaccination debate

In the article titled "Measles Put Congress on Spot," Jeremy Diamond discusses the controversy that many politicians are talking about, should children be required to be vaccinated? Vaccinations are currently a state law, and all 50 states have varying vaccine requirements. People are arguing that the federal government should mandate certain vaccines that children should be required to receive. Others argue that vaccines can lead to down syndrome and should be a decision made by parents. However, four medical experts explained that there is no medical evidence linking vaccines to down syndrome. This controversy has come about following the spread of measles from Disney Land to 14 states, including South Dakota, even though measles was thought to be eradicated in the US.

This issue may lead to federal control over some vaccines for children if measles continues to spread. It may also lead to more parents vaccinating their children.

Diseases cannot be kept within state boundaries, so I think that all states or the federal government should require children to receive certain vaccines. I thought this issue was best summed up by Sen. Michael Rubio: "If enough people are not vaccinated you put at risk infants that are three months of age or younger that have not been vaccinated, and you put at risk immune-suppressed children that are not able to get those vaccinations," Rubio said. "So absolutely, all children in America [should be vaccinated]." Vaccinations are not just about the health of those who do or don't receive the vaccination, it is about all of the other people around the person who become exposed to the disease.