COMMUNITY SERVICE
Scout leader recalled
as mentor to youths
A true hero died recently. He was neither a CEO, nor a politician. He was a mentor, in the best sense of that word, to young boys.
Otto Froehlich worked at Emory University, and was a husband, father and community leader, especially in the Boy Scouts of America.
He lived his life as an example to others — not by what he said, but in what he did every day. If you attended his memorial service, you would have been visibly moved. Thirty minutes before the service began in the funeral home chapel, it was standing room only.
The reputation of the Boy Scouts of America has suffered because of the wrongful conduct of a few. The Boy Scouts of America is a wonderful organization which helps boys learn to be responsible citizens. Otto Froehlich was an integral part of that process.
I was privileged to know him for a few years, when my youngest son and I were involved with Troop 18. Otto had that rare ability to make each person with whom he came in contact feel that they were special, and a best friend to him.
He had that effect on my son, and many other Scouts in Troop 18.
JOHN ROBINSON, AVONDALE
SCHOOL SHOOTINGS
Not all guns created
equal, should be legal
Because of the Second Amendment, guns will always be legal in the U.S., and because guns will always be available, it is a given that some individuals will always use guns to kill other people. Instead of ceaselessly arguing the irresolvable question whether it is guns or people who are the problem, maybe it’s time to focus on what kind of guns should be legal.
If the country wants to cleanse its blood from the eyes of the world and become moral in its own eyes, the argument should be about which weapons are legal. Since no ordinary and rational citizen can advance any conceivable need for automatic assault rifles, they should be banned — except for military personnel. These guns are for soldiers, not neighbors; for people who defend the country against enemies, not for citizens to use against fellow citizens.
So, the debate should not be about banning guns, but about banning certain non-civilian kinds of weapons. After all, which has proven more dangerous to the “happiness and safety” of the people: the assault rifle or the hunting rifle?
RICKS CARSON, ATLANTA
It’s easier to get a gun
than a driver’s license
To simply renew his drivers license, my husband had to pay for an original copy of his birth certificate and bring a number of other proofs of identity. In Georgia, we have made it harder to legally drive or vote. Meanwhile, we have made carrying a gun easier.
The right to drive does not include the right to drive drunk and endanger others. The right to own a gun must have similar limits. Too many have died needlessly. With 20 children killed as the new standard for horror, no family is safe.
Let’s start placing common-sense limits on an item whose sole purpose is to kill.
KATHIE CHENEY, PEACHTREE CITY
