Don't fear fructose
The Nov. 29 article "Splurge guilt-free this holiday season," may mislead consumers about high-fructose corn syrup.
New research continues to confirm that high-fructose corn syrup is safe and no different from other common sweeteners like sugar and honey.
High-fructose corn syrup is a natural sweetener and has the same number of calories as sugar. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted high-fructose corn syrup "Generally Recognized as Safe" status for use in food, and reaffirmed that ruling in 1996 after thorough review.
High-fructose corn syrup offers numerous benefits, too. It keeps foods fresh. It enhances fruit and spice flavors. It retains moisture in bran cereals and helps keep breakfast bars moist.
Consumers can see the latest research and learn more at www.HFCSfacts.com.
-Audrae Erickson,
President of the Corn Refiners Association
Washington, D.C.
No chaos from carrying guns on campus
The Nov. 29 editorial "Guns on college campuses would create chaos" fails to mention a few highly relevant points. It gives the impression that Students for Concealed Carry on Campus advocates allowing all students to carry firearms on campus, under the protection of the Second Amendment; however, a quick glance at SCCC's Web site reveals that SCCC is simply pushing for state laws and school policies that would allow the same individuals already licensed by their states to carry concealed handguns in most other unsecured (no metal detectors or X-ray machines) locations, such as movie theaters, office buildings, shopping malls, restaurants, banks, etc., to carry concealed handguns on college campuses. A quick glance at SCCC's Web site also reveals that SCCC never references the Constitution or the Second Amendment in its arguments for concealed carry on college campuses. SCCC is able to make its case without dragging the Constitution into it.
The editorial suggests that allowing concealed carry on college campuses would lead to "accidental firings, gun thefts and an increased risk of violent behavior" but conveniently fails to mention that every public college in Utah has, for the last three semesters, allowed concealed carry on campus and that other colleges throughout the United States, such as Colorado State University (Fort Collins, Colo.) and Blue Ridge Community College (Weyers Cave, Va.) have, for years, allowed concealed carry on campus, without incident.
Thirty-six states now issue concealed handgun licenses (CHLs) or concealed carry weapons permits (CCWs) to all qualified applicants, without requiring applicants to show a specific need. Three other states accept "personal defense" as a legitimate reason for a qualified applicant to be issued a CHL/CCW. In most states, a "qualified applicant" is an individual over the age of 21, with no felony convictions and no recent misdemeanor convictions, who has attended a training course, passed both a written and a practical (shooting) test, and passed extensive state and federal (FBI) background and fingerprint checks (often including investigations into records of mental health and sealed/expunged criminal records).
All 39 of these "right-to-carry" states faced the same prophecies of blood in the streets that your paper now predicts for college campuses; yet, none of these states have, in the two decades since the first concealed carry licensing laws were passed, seen a resulting increase in violent crime, gun accidents, or gun thefts. Opponents' predictions that fender benders and arguments over shopping carts would turn into shootouts did not come true. Instead, studies by numerous independent researchers and state agencies have found that CHL/CCW holders are five times less likely than non-license holders to commit violent crimes.
The editorial also suggests, "School should be a safe haven where students feel comfortable and secure." Students at Virginia Tech felt "comfortable and secure" on the morning of April 16 until the first shots rang out. Twenty-seven of those "comfortable and secure" students, along with five of their professors, died in the bloodiest mass shooting in American history. Sadly, feeling safe is not the same as being safe. Unless school administrators decide to install airport-style security checkpoints at every entrance to every campus, campus "gun-free zones" will continue disarming only those individuals concerned with following the rules, while stacking the odds in favor of dangerous criminals not concerned with following the rules.
The editorial accurately points out that colleges can be a culprit of anxiety, but it incorrectly infers that 21-year-olds (the legal age to obtain a CHL/CCW in most states) on college campuses are under greater stress than 21-year-olds in the rest of society. A student struggling to complete his or her thesis is under no more stress than an employee struggling to meet a deadline on which his or her job depends. So why haven't we seen a spate of violent incidents involving young licensees in right-to-carry states?
The editorial accurately points out that college can be a culprit of experimentation, but it incorrectly infers that allowing concealed carry on college campuses would legalize carrying while under the influence (it wouldn't) and that college experimentation is typically centered on campus (it's not). All right-to-carry states have laws prohibiting carrying while under the influence, and most drug and alcohol abuse by college students (particularly students over the age of 21) occurs off-campus. Allowing concealed carry on college campuses would neither legalize carrying while under the influence nor have any impact on the legal ability of licensees to carry concealed handguns at off-campus parties or bars.
This is not a debate about keeping guns out of the hands of college students. Allowing concealed carry on college campuses would impact neither the ability of college students to purchase firearms nor the ability of college students to obtain CHLs/CCWs. This is a debate about removing arbitrary restrictions on the rights of CHL/CCW holders. There is no reason to assume these licensed individuals would demonstrate any less discretion or sound judgment while carrying concealed handguns on college campuses than they currently demonstrate while carrying concealed handguns virtually everywhere else.
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