DENVER - Peace is possible, and the U.S. Army's Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in Southeast Colorado could become a leader in it, say two Aurora men.
Page Penk and his father, Chester, are not only trying to get those three words into the Colorado Constitution, but the pair also wants to add two other provisions: The U.S. government should create a Department of Peace, and the U.S. Army should only use its Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site to test non-lethal weapons.
The two men have already received initial approval from the state's Initiative Title Setting Review Board for its "Peace is Possible" measure for next year's ballot. Currently, they await final approval of their petition before they can start collecting signatures.
Now the two have submitted additional proposed ballot questions for next year.
"The point I'm trying to make is I don't want to U.S. military to come in and take over Pinon Canyon," Page Penk said. "Part of what's going on here is the U.S. military is really frustrated about getting beaten in Iraq right now. So what they're doing is, and this is not just among the military, but I think it's among our society, they're looking for people that they can push around."
Penk's hope is that by getting the measures into the Constitution, a conversation could be started to get people thinking more about using peaceful options rather than brute force.
Take the military for example, he says.
By creating a training site devoted entirely to non-lethal weapons, the military - and by extension, the nation as a whole - could set an example in solving worldwide disputes without resorting to killing people.
In time, the nation's enemies may not be enemies anymore, and, at the very least, may be more inclined to use non-lethal means against us, he said.
At the same time, the people of Southeast Colorado could take advantage of such a directive by turning the region into a world center in non-lethal weapons training and development, such as using sonic and non-lethal laser technologies that are currently being developed elsewhere.
"With this, we're not going to have to drop explosives onto the environment (and) you don't need an 80-ton Abrams tank tearing up the fragile prairie out there if you're out there using these non-lethal weapons," he said. "If we develop them . . . we can become the people we dream ourselves to be at night."
Currently, the Army is considering expanding the 238,000-acre training site by another 414,000 acres, a proposal area residents and officials are battling.
Additionally, two other ballot proposals were submitted to the board for the 2008 general election: one that would allow motorcycles to drive between traffic, but only when traffic is moving at less than 10 mph; and a second attempt to establish term limits for judges. A similar proposal was defeated on the 2006 ballot.