Letter: There are more important ‘rights’ than smoking, guns

Saturday, Oct. 11, 1997 | 7:58 a.m.

I read with utter confusion Lisa Fox's letter in the Sept. 25 SUN ranting about her "loss" of rights namely that to hurt her own body as well as others' health when she smokes and also to kill another by the "purchase" of a gun.

As I recall from reading the U.S. Constitution, there is no right to smoke nor to own a gun. So, if Fox and others who believe in similiar views think this country is not free enough for them, let them renounce their citizenship and go to another country. There are hundreds of thousands of individuals who would love to take her place many of whom die trying to cross the border.

And while we're on the subject of "rights," what about these: The right to have a decent-paying job to support yourself and your family, the right to medical care that is both inexpensive and available to all, the right to affordable housing for those who do not have the good fortunes of Steve Wynn or Ted Turner.

And yet when individuals like myself who believe we are all entitled to some of these basics, we are labled socialists or communists. Now tell me who's taking what from whom?

Robert Durler