To the editor:

“A rifle there? It didn’t compute in my brain.”

That might be because the “rifle” that looked like what military personnel carry was a semi-automatic shotgun. The only characteristic it shared with some military weapons is that it was black. It had a long barrel, way longer than anything other than a sniper rifle or a much heavier weapon, and a non-detachable magazine that held two rounds. Its intended use was clay pigeons, squirrels, and small birds.

“Why a rifle?”

Aside from the fact that it wasn’t a rifle, an apocryphal quote by Willie Sutton provides the answer: “Because that’s where the money is.” I have lived in Brown County for only five years but each year there have been multiple raffles of long guns, some even at the Brown County 4-H Fair, to raise money for charitable and political causes. Brown County loves its guns. According to the State of Indiana, 3,391 people in Brown County possess a license to carry, about 29 percent of the adult population and the highest of any county in Indiana.

Now, how about those Girl Scouts and their cookies? When I was a Cub Scout, and my mother was a den mother, I earned a merit badge in marksmanship. That activity was conducted at a range in the basement of the local YMCA. The skills I learned were instrumental in my being the honor graduate of my basic training company in the U.S. Army. In my calculus, those are American values and a part of our culture worthy of preservation.

I’m just guessing, but the Shriners probably didn’t plan their fundraising to follow on the heels of a mass shooting in Las Vegas. Nevertheless, I bought several tickets, for pretty much the same reason that I attend the concerts that the Shriners arrange at the Brown County Playhouse: to support an organization that provides orthopedic, burn, spinal cord injury, and cleft lip and palate care to children under 18 who desperately need it and may not be able to afford it.

Being horrified, or offended, is the typical social justice warrior response — followed by no action.

My friend and neighbor, James Goodman, president of the Brown County Shrine Club, tells me that the Shriners have ceased selling raffle tickets. So, because somebody was horrified, some child in desperate need of medical care won’t receive it.

I encourage my fellow residents of Brown County to continue to support our Shriners.

Maynard Brandon, Turning Tree Drive

Send letters to [email protected] by noon Thursday before the date of intended publication (noon Wednesday on holiday weeks). Letters are the opinions of the writer. Letters must be signed by the author and include the writer’s town of residence and a contact number in case of questions. Only one letter every two weeks, per writer, to allow for diversity of voices in the opinions section. Please be considerate of sharing space with other letter-writers and keep your comments concise and to the point. Avoid name-calling, accusations of criminal activity and second- and third-hand statements of “fact.”