[ OUR OPINION ]
Ashcroft thumbs his nose
at U.S. gun standardATTORNEY General John Ashcroft has made no secret of his disdain for gun-control laws and now has made his extreme views federal policy. If the courts were to accept his position, Hawaii's gun laws would be threatened. Fortunately, that is not likely to happen.
THE ISSUE The Justice Department has revised its position on gun rights under the Second Amendment.
When Ashcroft took the helm of the Justice Department last year, the National Rifle Association hailed him as "a breath of fresh air to freedom-loving gun owners." He fulfilled those expectations this week by advising the Supreme Court that his department has revised the government's position on gun-ownership rights.
Since the high court ruled in 1939 that the Second Amendment protects only rights that have "some reasonable relationship to the preservation of efficiency of a well-regulated militia," each administration's Justice Department has accepted the interpretation. Footnotes of briefs filed in two cases this week advised the court that the Bush administration has departed from that policy.
The footnotes say the department's "current position" is that the Second Amendment "more broadly protects the rights of individuals, including persons who are not members of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to possess and bear their own firearms, subject to reasonable restrictions designed to prevent possession by unfit persons or to restrict the possession of types of firearms that are particularly suited to criminal misuse."
That language would require further interpretation if its authorship were not known. Ashcroft's past opposition to gun registration requirements clearly indicate he is taking aim generally at gun-control laws. Most vulnerable, if the courts were to accept his interpretation, would be laws such as Hawaii's speedy background checks, prohibition of concealed weapons and assault weapons (hunters claim they are used for sport) and requirement of proper storage of guns out of the easy reach of children.
The Supreme Court probably won't accept for review either of the two cases that include the controversial footnotes. However, gun enthusiasts can be sure to point to the footnotes as an authoritative confirmation of their views.
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Some jobs are risky
for untrained teensMOST teenagers earn money from part-time jobs during the school year or full-time jobs in the summer months and gain valuable experience by doing so. However, some of those jobs are unsafe for youths without proper training or supervision. Youths, parents and employers should make sure they are abiding by state and federal laws to ensure safe and legal conditions.
THE ISSUE The number of teenagers holding down jobs has grown during the past half-century.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health estimates that 231,000 workers a year under age 18 are injured on the job. In Hawaii, work-related injuries and illnesses caused 330 workers aged 16-19 to stay home from school in 2000. Of those, according to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, 189 teenagers worked in wholesale and retail industries, such as fast-food restaurants and auto repair shops, and 67 had jobs in transportation, communications and public-utility jobs.
A new report by the National Consumers League, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, concludes the five worst kinds of teen jobs are delivery and other driving, including repairing, operating or riding on forklifts or other motorized equipment; working alone in businesses that handle cash and are open late at night; cooking, with exposure to steam or hot oil, grease, water or cooking surfaces; construction and work at heights; and door-to-door or street sales.
A wide range of state and federal laws include minimum ages for certain job categories. For example, federal law forbids anyone under 18 from holding delivery jobs. State law limits the work hours for anyone under 16 years old to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the school year and 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the summer.
The consumers league says 62 percent of teens aged 14-18 receive most of their money from part-time and neighborhood jobs. Those jobs are useful in teaching them responsibility and money management, "but it's important for young people and parents to know the laws and what their protections are," says Darlene Adkins, the group's coordinator. "We don't want to see a teen's first job be his last job."
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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, Editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
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