Mr. Twombley, I have the information you asked for. U.S. Supreme Court 1856 (South vs Maryland) found that law enforcement officers had no duty to protect any individual. Their duty is to enforce the law in general. Warren vs District of Columbia (444 A, 2d 1, 2(D.C. 1981)) Court ruled that ” … courts have without exception concluded that when a governmental entity undertakes to furnish police services, it assumes a duty only to the public at large and not to individual members of the community.” 1982 (Bowers vs DeVito), the Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit held, ” … there is no Constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen.”ÿ Perhaps you should start reading letters a bit better before you fire off hasty responses. No where, did I say it was illegal for police to protect individuals. I said, they were under no obligation to protect individuals. Also if you re-read my letter, you will find nowhere that I said two million people were killed in self defense. What I said was; that firearms were used for self defense. Often times the mere presence of a fire arm is enough to deter a criminal act. The stats come from: the FBI, national and state crime reports, news reports and the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, (no less of an unbiased source than Mother Jones). Please do not insinuate me to be a liar Mr. Twombley. Once again, had you known the situation before you fired off your letter, you would know that the historical references to the Republicans and Democrats were made to counter Miss Chipman’s claim that the Republicans were oppressing the American Indians back in the 18th century. My comments concerning segregation and civil rights were in reference to the `50s and `60s – as in the 20th century war between the states and slavery. Yes, indeed the Republicans once were the “starry-eyed liberals.” That was until liberalism started representing larger government, less freedom, tax and spending, and began grabbing for power by creating a dependent society instead of a productive one. The Republicans began gravitating towards less intrusiveness by the government, maintaining the personal freedoms that make this country the best in the world and giving the people the opportunity to excel instead of languishing as dependents of “big brother.” In short, Mr. Twombley, I would suggest we should read and understand what we are responding to before we respond to it. Todd R. Melcher

Adjunct instructor

Military science