Officer Keith Houts, Montgomery, AL

This is my first attempt at blogging, so I am winging it.

But I am extremely distressed by yesterday's shooting of a Montgomery Police Officer, who is clinging to life in a local hospital and, if he survives, he may very well be paralyzed. He is only 30 and has already survived a tour in Iraq.

My nephew, Bruce Evans, formerly of Montgomery County Sheriff's Dept. and Jackson County, MS Sheriff's Dept., was killed in the line of duty in Mississippi on July 18, 2000. He would have been 37 tomorrow--September 30th.

So, our family knows the anguish of Officer Houts' family, the law enforcement community, friends, church, and everyone touched by this terrible tragedy.

We lift his family and friends to God's throne of grace and pray for strength during these awful times. And we pray for justice.

Perhaps the naysayers should rethink their position about gun control. The enemies are many and they all have access to weapons. While I realize that every gun cannot be removed from the streets, it seems to me that we can make it much more difficult to obtain one. And the courts need to work closer with law enforcement and keep these people behind bars. I, for one, am sick to death of hearing about the criminals' rights, and when the death sentence is imposed, everyone is up in arms about the "cruel and unusual punishment" of lethal injections. And to have someone sit on death row for 25 years is beyond insane. But that is another blog.

These criminals certainly don't think of the pain and havoc they wreak when they kill someone or maim someone for life. My nephew left a young widow and two very young children. What about their loss? His parents' and brothers' loss? The loss felt by his aunts and uncles, friends, church community and comrades in law enforcement?

There is so much sin in this world; the devil is working overtime. It is time for all of us to put "feet to our prayers" and become actively involved in fighting crime and injustice on any front.

Carole Tindoll Weldon

Montgomery, AL