LETTERS: ONLY PARENTS SHOULD MAKE CURFEWS

To the editor:

It's after midnight. Do you know where your kids are? Unfortunately, the city of Cape Girardeau knows where they should be and has taken steps to ensure that they stay there. A curfew law exists and, according to recent events, has been enforced several times. Libertarians, however, believe such a law is unnecessary and even intrusive. Some would say putting a curfew on those under the age of 18 deters juvenile crime. While the law may make a select few think twice about engaging in unsuitable behavior, a juvenile who is determined to cause trouble will not be deterred by such a law. Such reasoning behind a law is equivalent to saying gun control laws will stop hardened criminals from committing future crimes, which they don't. Do young people commit crimes only between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m.? In regard to the school shootings earlier this year, would a curfew law have protected the innocent victims of such senseless violence? I think not. If we carry this curfew law lunacy to its illogical conclusion, why stop with young people? What's to keep politicians from imposing a curfew on adults of a certain race or sexual orientation, or maybe all adults in general? Politicians will reason that adults can cause as much if not more trouble than youths. I thought we lived in America, not Nazi Germany or the former Soviet Union. The next phase in this intrusion upon our freedoms is we'll need papers to identify us. The only curfew which makes sense and which Libertarians support is the one which parents establish. Otherwise, leave young people alone as long as they're not violating another's rights or property. Parents, you can take back your right to protect and determine what's good for your own child by urging the City Council to abolish this freedom-violating law. The Libertarian Party supports your right to raise your child the way you want without government interference. MIKE GARDNER. TreasurerCape Girardeau County Libertarian Party

Cape Girardeau