Posted by Charles Rehberg on Nov 20, 2017
 
 
North Notes
Spokane North Rotary Club Bulletin
November 20, 2017
Briefly:
Welcome back:
 
            Holiday time: Christmas club coordinator Sandy Fink reminds that just two weeks remain until the Dec. 4 return of “$45 for 45” gift returns.  Gifts should be wrapped, with the child and family letter tag attached outside of the gifts and naming “Spokane North Rotary.”  Sandy asks that all gifts return Dec. 4.  The annual club Christmas luncheon will be Dec. 11.
 
            Good line: Sergeant-at-arms (and Coug alum) Jon Heideman asked the Apple Cup question of the day: “What do you call a basement full of UW Huskies? A whine cellar!
 
            Thanks, John: Club director and RI Foundation contact John Mailliard attended the fall District Assembly and said some matching funds may be available for our projects after the club’s Polio Plus campaign.  With officers Lenore Romney and “Super Hero” Melinda Keberle leading the charge, the club raised $1,150 to fight polio. A
$1,000 district match added to that, and the Gates Foundation doubled down for that, providing a total of $6,450 for Polio Plus.
 
            Four more meetings: Club Director Brad Stark reminds that just four club meetings remain at The Lincoln Center before we move to Nectar in Kendall Yards.  The club meets Nov. 27 and Dec. 4, 11 and 18 at Lincoln, following holiday absences on Dec. 27 and Jan. 1.  Meetings resume at Nectar Jan. 8.
 
Straight shooting: the issue is criminals with guns
                 
            Robin Ball says the major issue for recent multiple gun deaths like the Las Vegas concert and the Texas church congregation is not “mental illness,” it’s “criminals with guns.”
           
            Robin and husband Steve Ball own and operate the Sharp Shooting Indoor Range & Gun Shop at 1200 N. Freya.  They have run the operation since 1995 and Robin is on the executive committee for the National Association of Shooting Ranges.
 
            In addition to classes on firearms and marksmanship, she also offers classes such as “Refuse of be a Victim” and “Women’s Self Defense.”
 
            Robin, who also visited our club several years ago, told the Nov. 20 meeting that “there are several things not to do with your wife -- driving, golfing and shooting.”
 
            Ball said “my industry is on the front page way more than I want to see.”
 
            “Is it mental illness? No, it’s criminal use of firearms,” she said.
 
            Ball said a large majority of gun deaths are suicides, and, despite the notoriety of multiple gun deaths, the actual murder rate is just six in 100,000 – much less that the rate for aggravated assault, at four per 1,000.  She added that “students on high school and college campuses are as many as 75 percent of those who will be affected by an assault.”
 
            She said “if people are in denial, they wouldn’t go to a Garth Brooks concert or a Bloomsday.”
 
            Ball said she herself, if when confronted by trouble, “I’ll run the other way (than get into a gun fight).  You should protect yourself and your family, but don’t look for
trouble and don’t intervene with others unless you know the people involved.”
 
            She bristles against “media propaganda” about guns, saying that at gun shows or on-line, dealers must still check and register the firearms. Washington laws provide 10-day waiting periods for gun purchases.
 
            “We can’t stop the evil,” Ball said, noting that “burglaries are on the rise in every neighborhood and firearms should be tightly secured.”
 
            She also added: “I really hate having guns in car.  Guns and cars are a bad idea.”
 
            Responding to questions, Ball discussed how to handle antique firearm registrations and how to transfer how to guns with family members and neighbors.
 
            The change in developing gun parts for 3-D printers is “a change for the industry,” she said.  She also talked about proper use of gun “silencers and suppressors.”
 
            Ball also strongly endorses hearing protection for any use of firearms.  Perhaps the hearing protection, in muffling gun shots, might also turn down the sound for
some of those shouting about certain limits of gun use.
 
The bulletin producers:
Bulletin editors: Chuck Rehberg and Sandy Fink
Photos:  Eric Johnson
Program coordinator: Brad Stark