New Times / Letter To The Editor

The difference between guns and flying

Gail Lightfoot

A recent TPR editorial asks why Americans will endure airport searches and fight to keep their guns (“Wrestling with irony: Guns, safety”).

It is really very simple.

A round trip from L.A. to Kansas City by bus is $388 and takes two days. By train it is $334 and takes two days. And the airfare is $336 and takes one day. I won’t calculate the cost of driving since it has to include room and board.

No one—your editor and readers included—enjoys the long lines and discomfort at the airports, but when it comes to time and money, the choice is clear.

We fly because it is not only faster, giving us more time to accomplish our business or enjoy our vacation, but it can be a bit less expensive with more departure and arrival points.

We cannot protest what the airlines or any other public transport (all a private business) require of us other than to stay home, but we can protest denying us the right to travel or own a gun per the Constitution.