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This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers

Friday, December 14, 2007

Slam the City's Door On Itinerant Salesmen

By

    Door-to-door sales. It's a business model few think about in an era of bustling malls, online sales and overnight shipping. But in light of two traveling magazine salesmen being charged in the brutal killings of Albuquerqueans Tak and Pung Yi, it's a business model that has no business here.
    Several alert Metro-area residents were bothered enough by aggressive salesmen last week to call police. Their tips— about a man in the Northeast Heights trying to talk his way into a home, and another in Rio Rancho— led to the arrests of Michael Joseph Lee, 21, and Travis R. Rowley, 23, in the Dec. 4 slayings.
    According to police, Integrity Program LLC of Las Vegas, Nev., dropped the pair off in the Yis' neighborhood that Tuesday, where they forced their way into the elderly couple's home, robbed, beat and killed them.
    Since 1933 some municipalities have banned door-to-door sales. Called Green River ordinances after the Wyoming town that took on the Fuller Brush Co., the laws have been upheld as long as they don't include religious and noncommercial solicitations. Albuquerque should consider enacting one.
    Meanwhile, residents solicited at the door should ask to see a city permit. They should emulate the folks who called police to report suspicious or scary behavior. Or, when they hear the knock, they should consider the Better Business Bureau's advice: Don't buy from door-to-door magazine salesmen. Don't open up to an obsolete business model that's still trying to jam its foot in the door.