Judy began her adventure with words as a three year old, reading magazines cover to cover. In the photograph, she’s pointing to a big word.
The teenage years found Judy obsessed with entertainment magazines, hunting them down at the only drugstore in town.
Today, magazines continue to be some of her favorite things. The difference, she now writes for them.
What launched her writing career?
Being the new kid in school more than once fostered her powers of observation and questioning spirit. These abilities, coupled with a keen persistence and lively writing style afforded her opportunities to write for a number of different media outlets such as magazines, websites, and custom publishers. Some 350 or so bylines later, she can’t imagine any other career for herself other than being a professional writer. Not simply her occupation, she writes out of the essential need to communicate.
She’s dedicated to writing about the environmental through her blog, Living Green Living Well. Check it out. Green practices can help us all live more in alignment with what’s good for the planet and for us all. We become what we practice.
Thanks for stopping by.
Kansas Issues First Permits After Passing Concealed-Carry Law
On January 3, 2007, the State of Kansas began issuing permits to the first wave of Kansas residents eligible to carry concealed weapons after the law went into effect Monday. Kansas is the 47th state to pass the law. The permits availability was delayed by one day due to the federal day of mourning for former President Gerald Ford.
Laura Bauer and Benita Y. Williams of The Kansas City Star reported that the majority of permits, 950, were issued in Sedgwick County, that in which Wichita is located. Johnson County followed with 764, Leavenworth County with 205, Douglas County with 142, and Miami County with 122, based on information provided by the Kansas Attorney General. Those 2,981 individuals having received their permits had applied by October 31st. Those who had applied later will be waiting at least a few weeks for notification. More than 4,800 have applied. Attorney General Phill Kline has approved a sign to be hung by businesses that don’t want concealed weapons allowed on their premises. Nor will they be allowed in schools, libraries, government buildings, courtrooms, bars, sporting events, or places of worship. The law provides that anyone seeking the permit must pass a background check and take a training course that includes breaking down and cleaning the weapon and firing the gun properly. They also learn when a shooting is justified. This is an eight hour course. (Source: Kansas City Star, Wednesday, January 3, 2007.)
Florida was the first state to issue the permits and some study of the consequence has occurred since. The findings are that violent crime has decreased significant, but there has been an increase in property crime, according to author John Lott of “More Guns, Less Crime.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concealed_carry) The National Rifle Association (NRA) also reports lower crime with increased Right to Carry (RTC) laws in states.
On the other hand, the Brady Campaign reports the opposite. According to their findings, violent crime in Florida has increased and it is now the least safe state in which to live. Also according to the Brady Campaign, many of those carrying weapons have such limited training in operating a gun. It is also explained that the concealed carry law does not relate to private ownership in the home, just the right to carry the gun in public.
So, for the average citizen conducting research, it takes more time and effort to make an educated decision about how they’ll vote about gun laws. Research is made difficult when much of the information made available is from organizations with an agenda to promote.
However, one can only come to the conclusion that citizens feel an obvious need to protect themselves and their property, otherwise, they wouldn’t vote to pass the law. The law differs from state to state, varying where the weapon can be carried, what type of weapon can be carried, and whether the weapon is concealed or open.
Two states, Vermont and Alaska, do not require a permit to carry a weapon for non-felons. In those states, carrying a weapon is a right. In Hawaii, there is a no-issue law, and permits are never to be granted under any circumstance. Wisconsin and Illinois remain the only other states in which there are no terms for concealed-carry.
So what does this mean for Kansas? Time will tell. In the five counties in which most permits were issued, the crime rates for 2005 are as follows:
County: Offense per 1000 residents
Sedgwick: 58.6
Johnson: 32.4
Leavenworth: 18.4
Douglas: 48.6
Miami: 22.7
(Source: https://cylawyersg.com, Conveyancing Lawyer Singapore Association)
The county in Kansas with the highest crime rate, Wyandotte, with 80.6 offenses per 1000 residents, was not in the top five counties with highest number of permits issued. Perhaps the background check was a deterrent.