The Erwin Pawn Trade-A-Thon Says Cane The BB Gun Vandals

We had a rather interesting and hopefully gainful Saturday on The Erwin Pawn Trade-A-Thon.

It's the show that invites you to call in to buy and sell pretty much anything.  We do it every Saturday and had the usual good time doing it.  We think it's the most purest form of radio around, it's radio that works for you and how you need it.

THE BIG QUESTION

We've never shied away from attacking local issues with The Big Question.  It's a poll question we ask all our callers and it helps provide a stream of thought for the show.  This week we went a little medieval.

Last Thursday Amarillo Police nabbed four young men.  They were armed with BB guns, eight in total.  They were caught in the act of shooting windows out with their BB guns.  Both Amarillo and Canyon have had issues over the last five weeks.  BB gun vandals have shot out windows in both cities.

The young men are aged 23, 19, 18, and 17.  Certainly old enough to know better than to go on a glass breaking BB gun spree.  Personally I think if these young adults are going to act like children we should treat them like children.  Jail just doesn't seem like the proper punishment.  I think the punishment should be a bit more corporal.

We put the question to you and we weren't surprised by the results.

Should the BB gun vandals be incarcerated or caned?

Caned 26

Incarcerated 4

It's time to get out the bamboo poles.  I say one whack each for each count of destruction attributable to the vandals.  The really crazy thing is the backlog of vandalism cases is so vast, Amarillo police have not contacted all the victims of the vandals.  I don't think a simple jail sentence will be satisfying enough.  I was not a victim of the BB gun vandals but for those that were, a little caning might be the quickest path to justice.  It would also be a signal to the young people of Amarillo that we aren't going to put up with wanton and useless vandalism.

RULE #6

Along with the regular rules of the program I always bring you a special Rule #6.  It is usually inspired by a thought I had during the week or by something that happened to me over the previous week.

My family is facing some major change and everyone is contributing their part to effect the change.  It's made me proud to be a part of my family.  I'm firmly in the middle generation with plenty of folks older than me and a handful younger.  Last week I had a thought about the situation and I decided the thought would make a good rule.

Rule #6: There's no age limit to reminding your significant others that you love them and are proud of them.

Tell your grandmother you love and are proud of her.  Call your aunts, call your siblings.  If they are older than you giving this kind of affirmation may seem odd at first.  Once you start, it becomes really easy.  Don't presume your loved ones know how you feel, tell them!

And join us next Saturday for another Erwin Pawn Trade-A-Thon on KIXZ!