Eight Reasons Enfield Republicans Should Drop the Pride Flag Referendum

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  In 2022, the Town Council, under a Democratic majority, approved a policy allowing Pride flags to be displayed at Town Hall during Pride Month in June. After retaking the majority in 2024, Republicans passed an ordinance banning all non-government flags from government buildings. That should have been the end of it. But it wasn't. After forming a Charter Revision Commission, its chair, Mayor Ken Nelson, sought to include what amounts to a permanent Pride Flag ban in the town charter. Changing the town charter requires voter approval through a referendum. If voters approve the measure, future councils must follow the rule unless a new referendum overturns it. Mayor Nelson has been the strongest advocate for putting this on the ballot. "Can the town buildings be used to push a personal ideology on the residents of Enfield?" he asked at the Commission's final meeting. "It is a political issue—it's not our billboard." Last week, the Charter Commission dead...
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Ban gun purchases for people under 21


Ban gun purchases for people under 21 is something Congress should act on. That's one big step since teens are responsible for a disproportionate share of school shootings. Until then, any 18 year who buys an AR-15 and a load of ammunition ought to be an automatic red flag. Unfortunately, the median age of school shooters is 16. That might make a case for requiring gun owners to store their weapons securely. The U.S. Secret Service studied school shootings and what it found in 25 attacks that involved firearms:

"Nineteen attackers (76%) acquired a firearm from the home of a parent or another close relative. In half of the firearms cases (n = 12, 48%), evidence indicates the firearm was either readily accessible, or it was not secured in a meaningful way."
You combine immature and mentally ill kids who have easy access to firearms, and you have a problem. Requiring secure storage, and raising the purchase age, might help. Responsible gun owners already secure their weapons, but the gun lobby opposes any laws that mandate secure storage. They see it as an infringement on their rights. But who should have greater rights? The safety of children ought to come first.

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