Readers of my e-mail newsletter already know my stance on the proposed Erie County smoking ban.

But I think it's worth repeating in this space.

Don't buy into the argument that banning smoking in public places is a vote against individual freedom.

In the United States, you are free to own a gun and fire a gun. But that freedom ends the minute you fire that gun at another person. At that point, you are threatening that person's life and interfering with his or her freedom.

The same holds true with smoking.

You are free to smoke. Cigarettes are legal.

But as soon as you blow smoke into the lungs of another person, you are threatening that person's health and interfering with his or her freedom.

The smoking ban issue is, indeed, about protecting freedom -- the freedom of people to breathe clean air.