Freedom is fragile
I saw a yard sign the other day that states simply, “Freedom Matters.”
Yes, it does. However, so many forget that freedom requires responsibility.
I propose an equally important yard sign that says “Responsibility Matters.”
Without responsible actions, freedom can be taken away. Freedom without responsibility most often results in infringements on the freedoms of others, and that cannot be allowed.
Do not confuse “freedom” with “free-for-all.”
Freedom does not mean you can do whatever you want whenever you want to whomever you want. So, when it comes to protecting freedom, you must be responsible and hope that others around you are responsible because freedom is not an absolute. It is fragile.
If enough people do stupid things or are allowed to do stupid things, freedom can be limited or removed. For example, stupid people drive off-road/trail and tear up areas where they are not supposed to go just because then can. The result: more closed roads, trails or entire areas.
Another example: People buy guns but use them or store them irresponsibly or dangerously. Result: gun restrictions.
And by the way, we already have gun control. You can’t buy or possess a variety of weapons restricted to military use and must jump through many hoops to legally possess a fully automatic weapon.
There are rules and thankfully so. A free-for-all is not freedom. It is chaos.
When chaos reigns, freedom wilts. That’s why we have and need rules.
Think about it.
Russell Gee
Lewiston
Indoctrinated
Nicole Xiao’s June 5 letter, “Summer for salmon,” should serve as a wake-up call for everyone who has a child in the public school system.
Xiao claims to be a member of “Youth Salmon Protectors,” a coalition of more than 2,000 young people from across the Northwest who are demanding the removal of the four lower Snake River dams.
Googling the organization gives us this bit of insight: “Youth Salmon Protectors is a program of the Idaho Conservation League working to build a coalition of young people across the Northwest dedicated to honoring tribal treaties, breaching the four lower Snake River dams, and saving wild salmon and steelhead. The issue wild salmon and steelhead are going extinct.”
Our public schools have become fertile feeding grounds where radical and destructive special interest groups prey on the inexperience and naivety of our children to indoctrinate them into political activity favorable to these same radical groups, often in opposition to the wishes of their own parents.
Whether it is the Green New Deal, gun control or political action aimed at destroying our economy, public schools are wide open to contamination of our children’s minds by many special interests as well as governmental influences.
Get your children out of the public school system before they are nothing more than indoctrinated zombies. Our youth are being weaponized against us.
Dick Sherwin
Lewiston
Out of the closet
Brandon, Brandon, I had you pegged so wrong. Your firearm expertise is deep and wide. Are you a closeted National Rifle Association member? Maybe you are a Life, Endowment, Patron or maybe a Benefactor like myself ?
Yes sir, Brandon, that little old .22 LR bullet will stop right in the middle of a lung, like you said.
But that cannon of a weapon 9 mm caliber will blow that lung right out the backside, like you said.
Yes sir, that little handheld howitzer Ruger P89 of mine is my go-to elk hunting camp gun. It will reach there to 327½ yards and blow the gizzard right out of that ole bull.
Hope to see you on the range, Brandon.
Larry Sullivan
Clarkston
