But it could become more dangerous next year. If you get too uppity with the powers that be, you might get zapped by a Taser.
Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, who has publicly expressed his contempt for "socialists" in response to Michael Moore's film "Sicko," has sent an e-mail to his legislative colleagues offering to get them a discount on the Taser C2, with an optional laser sight, for the great low price of $330. He can get that deal for legislators' family members, too.
And the best part? You don't need a concealed-weapons permit to have an activated Taser, Wimmer says. Although you do have to pass a background check.
Wimmer, a career police officer, points out in his e-mail that being a high-profile person like a legislator can be a risky endeavor and some legislators have been reluctant to carry a gun, even though Wimmer's fellow Republican Rep. Curtis Oda, of Clearfield, has been more than generous in arranging for concealed-weapons permit classes for the lawmakers.
The Taser is the way to go, he says.
But what is "fair"? Salt Lake City mayoral candidates were offered a voluntary "Fair Campaign Practices" pledge to sign when they filed for the office.
The pledge, which the Legislature put into state law to be made available to all candidates, has candidates promise to refrain from "scurrilous attacks on any candidate," from the "use of any practice that tends to corrupt or undermine . . . free elections," etc.
Every candidate signed the pledge except Jenny Wilson.
Wilson says she declined to sign it because of one clause promising to repudiate any independent individual or group that violates the spirit of the pledge. Wilson says that puts candidates in a position of being responsible for folks over which the candidate has no control. She says she supports the concept of clean campaigns free of unfair personal attacks, but concluded the pledge could be used itself as a campaign tactic.
Speaking of tactics: If you Google "Jenny Wilson for Mayor," one of the first offerings is opponent Dave Buhler's campaign Web site. If you Google mayoral candidate Keith Christensen, you see Buh-ler's Web site. If you Google candidate Ralph Becker you can see Dave Buhler's Web site.
A campaign spokesman for Buhler says that's just part of spending the campaign advertising dollar. Buhler gets his name on his opponents' Web sites by paying for a "sponsored link" on their Google sites. People who click onto those sites are interested in the mayor's race, so it's a way for Buhler to get his message out to those folks, the spokesman says.
Just for good measure, if you Google Dave Buhler, you get the option to click onto the site of Keith Christensen, who also has a sponsored link on Becker's site.
prolly@sltrib.com
