Stefanik stance leaves veterans more vulnerable

Two newspapers, two takes on the same story, two different conclusions

By Ken Tingley

Rep. Elise Stefanik is a co-sponsor of legislation she says will protect veterans rights to own guns.

Currently, if the Veterans Administration has to appoint a fiduciary because a veteran can no longer manage his/her own finances, that information also has to be reported to the Department of Justice’s criminal background check. It’s another step for owning a firearm.

Rep. Stefanik does not think that is right.

She believes it infringes on their Second Amendment rights.

It appears she believes that even if a veteran cannot manage their own finances, they still have the right to own a gun without going through this extra step.

Not everything is black and white as Rep. Stefanik has you believe.

This regulation is in place not to deny veterans their rights, but to keep them safe.

In 2020, more than 6,000 veterans committed suicide and 70 percent of them did it with a firearm. The concern is that if you no longer can mentally handle your own finances, you might not be mentally responsible enough to own a firearm.

That makes sense to me.

By supporting this legislation to repeal the mandate, Stefanik has come out in support of more veterans committing suicides. She is putting them at risk.

Either she has not done her homework on this or she has not thought it all the way through.

Or perhaps there is a third reason. In order to keep an A rating from the National Rifle Association, she has to support this piece if legislation.

That’s unconscionable.

Her politics is so one-sided that she can no longer accurately evaluate the nuances in certain regulations.

Polling has also shown that veterans support background checks for gun purchases by about 60 percent in most cases.

Twenty veterans commit suicide each day in this country. Rep. Stefanik should be crafting legislation to get them the help they need, not helping them get firearm which might put them in danger.

Today show in Lake George

The Lake George chamber of commerce sent out a request to get people to come to Lake George on Monday morning because the Today show was in town to a series called “Today’s Winter Escape.”

There are a couple of problems with hosting the winter-themed show. First, after temperatures went into the 50s last week, there is not much snow and no safe ice on the lake and temperatures will be in their 40s day, fairly balmy for those of us who live here all winter.

The chamber might want to encourage the television folks to come back during the summer.

Lee furloughs

Axios reported this week that Lee Enterprises, which owns The Post-Star in Glens Falls, has informed employees they must take an unpaid furlough of two weeks or accept a salary reduction.

The Axios report states that “Lee’s struggles have deepened.”

After Lee fought off a takeover bid last year from hedge fund Alden Capital, Lee laid off hundreds of employees at local newspapers and its corporate office.

While there does not appear to be any further layoffs in Glens Falls, the furloughs won’t help improve the newspaper’s coverage.

Two takes on story

Both the Times Union in Albany and The Post-Star in Glens Falls reported on the EPA research into the Sterigenics medical device sterilization plant in Kingsbury this past week.

Each story had a very different take on what was most important.

The Times Union story said the following:

KINGSBURY — The U.S. Environmental Protection agency sounded the alarm Thursday about the elevated risk of cancer for those working and living near the Sterigenics medical device sterilization plant in the town of Kingsbury, which is located about five miles outside of Glens Falls and near the Queensbury town line.

The Post-Star had a very different take:

KINGSBURY — Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency assured the public on Thursday that there are not yet significant risks associated with Sterigenics, but the Queensbury medical equipment sterilization facility "may be close to unsafe emission levels.

While it is common to see newspapers cover the same story, it is unusual for them to come to different conclusions. Some might point liberal vs. conservative viewpoints, but it often comes down to the experience of the reporters involved.

Reporters must evaluate the information they receive and give it context. In this case, the reporters came to somewhat different conclusions and I suspect it is based not on any political viewpoint but on their experience with this particular subject matter.

Science stories about the environment can be difficult to report because the science is difficult to understand. Reporters who have covered the issues repeatedly do a better job because of their experience.

That’s why it is so important to have a core of experienced reporters.

Mass shootings

The video coverage of the shootings at Michigan State University last week was chilling with an active shooter still at large.

But by Friday, we were all back to our usual routines while in Mississippi a man killed six people, some apparently at random, in another mass shooting without nearly the same amount of news coverage.

I guess many news outlets figure, “What’s the point?” there will be another one tomorrow.

Our right to a firearm has now taken precedence over our right not to be shot randomly in the street. It’s clear, we can never fully provide the mental health resources necessary to solve this problem, and we choose not to impose more stringent policies against owning a firearm.

Greenwich event

The Greenwich Public Library will be hosting a forum on the future of local news on Thursday, March 9 at 7 p.m. Joining me on the panel will be former Schenectady Gazette Editor Judy Patrick and Times Union reporter Wendy Liberatore.

I will be signing books before and after the event so mark your calendars.