I would like to respond to the letter to the editor "Writer confused about concealed carry" (July 26) by Jay Collett.

Collett asks "Also why should I thank a serviceman for a right that this country has had since its inception?" Yes, we should thank our "far-thinking forefathers," as Collett puts it. But anyone can write a piece of paper that says anything he or she wants. That doesn't in and of itself make it happen. Maybe Collett should have shown the U.S. Constitution to the fundamentalist Muslims before they flew planes into the Twin Towers; think of how many lives he would have saved by showing the murderers the rights of those they murdered that day.

Our forefathers knew that a piece of paper alone would not protect your rights when they wrote "provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity" in the U.S. Constitution, authorizing the military. They knew that is what it takes to keep others from taking freedoms from us. Collett can thank the forefathers for the freedoms he has, but he better also thank all the servicemen and women who have served since the Revolutionary War for being able to keep them.

Collett needs to get his head out of the sand and see all those who would like to take away his right to freedom of speech. I may not agree with what he says, but I, and many hundreds of thousands of others, have served in this country's military services, willing to put our lives on the line so he could continue to have the right to say them.

And I thank all those who came before me and served with me so I could serve under the same Constitution, and all those serving after me for allowing me to continue living under it.