If you wear orange, why not a mask?

To the editor:

Why is it that many of the same people who refuse to wear masks in relation to COVID-19 will wear the state-mandated amount of orange during hunting season? Does being forced to wear orange not “infringe” upon their rights and liberties as well?

The answer is sadly obvious: orange protects oneself, while masks protect others.

The 10th Amendment gives the states the right to enact such a mandate. Other 10th Amendment state laws involve traffic laws, driver’s license requirements, election rules, state commerce regulation, building and maintaining roads, building and maintaining schools, police and fire department regulations, and local business laws. For instance, the ban on smoking in public schools and bars and restaurants is an example of a 10th Amendment law that was crafted for the overall health of the public.

Do the same people who won’t wear a mask refuse to stop at traffic lights? Refuse to obey speed limits?

As someone who cares about my family, neighbors, fellow Montanans and Americans, I wonder what could be more impolite, self-centered and un-American than to purposefully put others in harm’s way, and potentially, to cause them death.

True Montanans and Americans will do what is best for our neighbors and country. They are helping us all rally together in health and spirit and not let myopic political ideologies kill our neighbors and our country.

This fall, I will wear my orange, as always. And in public and around others, I will wear my mask.

Matt Holloway

Columbia Falls