The right to choose

The smoking ban for restaurants has nothing to do with smokers' rights. It all comes down to nonsmokers' rights vs. restaurant owners' rights. My wife and I are nonsmokers, and we do not eat in restaurants where the smell of smoke is present. We exercise our right to choose in this matter.

I do not believe that it is my right to force a restaurant owner to ban smoking. He should have the right to choose whether he allows smoking in his establishment, recognizing that he may lose some business if he does so. People who work in a smoky restaurant also get to make that choice.

The philosophy of equal rights and opportunity is applicable with respect to situations such as housing, education, employment and access to facilities and businesses on an equal basis for all people. It is unreasonable to extend that philosophy by acquiescing to nonsmokers' demands that they should be able to go anywhere they want and enjoy a smoke-free atmosphere. Their right to choose whether to enter a given restaurant is what guarantees them a smoke-free atmosphere.

Being able to force a privately owned business to restrict smoking so that I can enjoy the use of that facility is not a right guaranteed to me under the Constitution of the United States.

Bill Hinckley, Cape Girardeau