To the Journal editor:

This is a regional news item, from Petoskey on Aug. 1, reference to a mid-July incident:

PELLSTON — Michigan state house Rep. Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) was recently detained at Pellston Regional Airport after TSA personnel discovered a loaded, unregistered handgun in his carry-on bag as he was going through a pre-flight check. — Petoskey News Review

Despite (the) announcement that “no charges” would be filed in this case, I know that, as a 107th District voter, I’m not alone in asking important questions in the wake of the serious, above-referenced incident. For example:

1. Why was the news covered-up for two weeks, till state Rep. Chatfield — who boasts of his membership in the “MI Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners” — was ready to break the story?

2. Assuming there was a coverup, which officials, appointed and elected, were responsible for same and why?

3. If, as young Mr. Chatfield has stated in Lansing, “We need to ensure our (school-age) kids are protected;” How does an important, NRA-endorsed officeholder, who possesses “multiple firearms” and who claims he was just spending family time at home with his five minor children, not know the whereabouts of “open carry” weapons?

Despite politicized law enforcement officials deciding not to press charges, we, the people of his district, are now asked to accept Chatfield’s public apology that he takes “full responsibility” for the TSA-screening incident and “fully acknowledges that no one is above the law …”

Since he’s one of many Michiganders who, despite actual reality, live in fear that their lives are in constant peril and require personal firearms to defend, here is one salient truth for him as a husband and father to ponder: According to the Gun Violence Archive, in 2016 Michigan had “at least 73 accidental shootings that resulted in death or injury, including 15 events that involved children under age 12.”