Dear Editor:
I was thoroughly surprised and rattled by Ms.Gibson's and Ms.Burrow's letters on the lowering of the Cole County flag to half staff.
Personally, as the son of a sergeant major and a supporter of our armed forces, I believe that the lowering of the flag should be reserved for military deaths only. It should be a show of respect for those who gave their lives protecting ours and the misuse of it is a disrespect to those fallen heroes.
And if Gibson or Burrow had perhaps educated themselves on why the flag was not lowered at first, they would realize that Kris Scheperle and Jeff Hoelscher's votes had no basis in bias but simply in the established ordinances of Cole County. I send my applause admiration to Hoelscher in the fact that he stood up for the ordinances and tried to maintain the aura of respect and honor that is associated with the lowering of the flag.
Also in response to Gibson's and Brownstein''s letters on gun control, your thinking is backwards.
Brownstein, in his letters says, 'I am still waiting for the story of the individual who defended everyone because he had a gun when some action happened." Brownstein has a great point on the surface but once you look into an incident such as the Orlando shooting, you realize the shooting occurred at a place where it was illegal to carry a weapon.
The same is true with many mass shootings. The perpetrators in these horrid crimes tend to target places where they know people won't be firing back. I find it extremely interesting that these gun laws that prevent innocent civilians from carrying weapons into certain areas do not stop the criminals who come with murder on their minds. It's similar to locking your car doors. All that lock is going to do is turn an honest man away.
There's another reason we should have the uninfringed right to carry however, wherever, and whenever we please. The difference between a free man and a slave is the right to bear arms. This is one of the fundamental beliefs that was the reason for the inclusion of the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights.
Citizens need guns not just to defend themselves from other citizens, but also to keep the government in check. If we continue to let the government strip away our gun rights while building their own arsenal we will soon be at the government's whim which history has taught us is no fun.
So let us respect the ones who serve, and realize that gun control laws only create more victims, not less criminals.