We are going in the wrong direction on firearm discussion. Outlawing guns is not going to happen and is not even on the table. Eliminating assault weapons may make us feel like we’ve done something but in reality it would be limited in avoiding another Newton incident. Closing the “gun show” loop hole is good idea but still wouldn’t make a difference. In my opinion the only real long term solution is adding technology to weapons and mandating all new weapons have this technology. Finger swipe to activate a weapon would leave weapon locked and only usable by registered owner(s). GPS positioning could turn off weapons in places they are not allowed. Two way communication with police could notify authorities any time a weapon is discharged and allow authorities to disable a weapon remotely. The government role should be to improve on the safe and proper use of firearms. We didn’t outlaw vehicles after the first traffic fatality but we have mandated safer vehicle designs. The technology is there. Let’s utilize it.
I am disappointed that the PulseLine is getting smaller like everything else in your paper. You should realize that not everyone has a computer to contact you with. Also when someone calls in the articles seem to be screened and only the ones that you want to appear get in. One other fact you should know, a lot of people do not like giving their information out. They worry that you will publish that too. Something at your paper must change or else subscribers will start dropping faster. I see we had another death on Western Ave due to the traffic. When are the officials of Westfield going to wake up? The city now wants to make the traffic situation worst as it pertains to foot and bike traffic. Why doesn`t the city put the turning lanes and traffic signals down on rt.20, then make the college traffic leave via the Sheraton Inn property that was acquired a few years back? I am not an engineer but you have three big problems when you talk of traffic in Westfield. The first is college traffic on Western Ave, The second is the traffic in the downtown area, and the third is the bottleneck at the Turnpike. Instead of wasting all the states money doing little projects, why not start with the turnpike? Make a new exchange off the end of Pochassic Street that would cross the river at rt20. Put a traffic light to cross at the site of the former Sheraton Inn then up the hill to the college. By doing this you have fixed the exchange problem at exit #3. You have also fixed the congestion downtown and maybe now someone will shop there because you can actually get around. And lastly Western Ave can stay a nice neighborhood. Thank you. Since July of 2011 we began printing the PulseLine every day rather than only a few times per week. Because of that there “appears” to be less submissions when in fact there are the same or even more now than previously. We only screen the comments for inappropriate language or personal attacks. Other than that, everything gets printed but we do give a priority to electronic submissions due to the ease of converting them into the printed paper. With today’s technology we know exactly who is contacting us: we have caller ID so we know who calls plus we get the e-mail addresses of every person who submits electronically. You have never seen a person’s name, phone number or e-mail and never will.
The city should petition the state immediately to reduce the speed on Western Ave. to 30 miles per hour to give bicyclists and pedestrians a chance. The speed at both ends of the road is 30 miles per hour and there is less foot and bike traffic there. No one believes that Western Ave. is safe now as it is.
