Doing what they feel is the peoples' business, the Utah and Arizona legislatures carefully set their priorities for 2011 using valuable legislative time to name an Official State Gun.
For Utah it is the Browning M1911 semi-automatic pistol, and for Arizona it's the Colt Single Action Army Revolver. Can a state bullet be far behind?
State guns and state bullets aside, these have been tough years for legislators and their constituents all over the country. Even with the economy recovering, the states are still facing high unemployment rates, tepid business recovery and low tax revenue. What is needed is a quiet, thoughtful approach to the issues rather than clichés and political posturing.
We would be much better off if our legislators fought for solutions to constituents' problems rather than passing silly legislation, or jumping on the kill-the-federal-government political bandwagon of the anti-everythings, people like anti-tax radical Grover Norquist.
Norquist's philosophy is to "starve the beast." He wants to use lack of funds to force government to cut way, way back on programs for children, the elderly, the sick and the poor. You know—the easy targets.
But we need more than "no tax" promises. We need legislators who will, to the best of their ability, do the "people's business" by providing the best natural environment in which to live and the best educational environment in which to learn.
We can only hope our elected state legislators have more to give than what they have shown us so far. By the way, seeing a state designate a .44 magnum bullet as its official symbol would make our day.
