Dear Readers,

On January 24 I got a visit from an old golfing pal. After going back and forth about which one of us was going to purchase the Boothbay Country Club, my pal took off his cap and got serious. 

“Some of us think there have been too many letters from one side on the gun control issue,” he said. “These folks have gotten their say, and I think you should quit printing their letters. They are not the only veterans who have opinions on this topic,” he said.

I turned to my old golfing pal and gave him my stock answer. As long as the discussion is civil and stays within our guidelines and space limitations, I think we should let each person have his or her say on a topic. I offered to print a letter to the editor expressing his opinion and he said no.

“I thought you would say that, but I had to ask,” he said.

We chatted for a few more moments and he left vowing to tell his pals he had spoken to me. 

For the record, neither of us can afford to purchase the golf course, but we both hope someone does buy it and makes it affordable.

Letters to the editor have a long tradition in American newspapering. Way before social media was invented, letters to the editor gave readers a chance to chime in on a topic that was in the news. Surveys say the letters to the editor section is always one of the best read in the paper. 

In the early years of our nation, people would pen long letters supporting one political position or the other. The Federalist papers, and other tomes were written by supporters and opponents of the Constitution and Bill or Rights. Many of them were published as long opinion pieces, although they were usually signed with made up names like “Publis.” 

That practice has evolved into shorter versions in the modern newspaper. Letters are subject to editing, usually for space. Most papers require them to be signed. 

My old boss invented something called the op-ed piece, where he gave space to a person who opposed the editorial viewpoint of the paper. Many papers followed his lead.

When I was a young reporter, someone wrote a letter to the editor complaining about me and one of my stories. I complained to the old editor. “He (the letter writer) is wrong. That is not true,” I said.

“I know. I believe you,” he said. “But (the letter writer) has an opinion and he believes you were wrong. Everyone has a right to their own opinion. And everyone has a right to be wrong,” he said, and sent the letter to the composing room to be set in type for the next edition.

As long as we live in a country where we have freedom of speech, sooner or later some sorehead is going to say or write something we don’t like. But they still have a right to say it.

So send us your letters folks. We will run them. I will write editorials too, like this one and I will take a position on local topics too. 

We don’t care what issue you favor or oppose, or what political party you support, we will run your letters. But always, we reserve the right to edit them, especially for space. And please, please, keep the tone civil. 

Although we encourage you to send letters to the editor via email, we will accept typed and even handwritten letters. We even accept letters that are written in crayon on yellow lined paper.

Since the terrible tragedy in Newtown, Conn., gun control is a hot topic. From Washington, D.C., to Boothbay, lots of folks are arguing both sides of the Second Amendment/gun control issue.

However, it is the First Amendment that gives us the right and the duty to run opinion letters to the editor.