…and a community responds.

An employee of a Mom and Pop hardware store in Cape Coral, FL, placed a half-dozen American flags where they could be seen on the hardware store’s property; the flags were to honor the man’s six relatives who were veterans of the United States military.

Foul. It turns out that the location was on city property—the right of way to the hardware store—and Cape Coral has an ordinance against planting signs and banners, including the American flag, on the city’s rights of way. The city ordered the man to move the flags.

Fortunately, the man refused.

Response. The community promptly planted another 200 or more American flags on the city’s right of way, along a six block stretch that includes the man’s hardware store. The city decided not to enforce its ordinance this time.

This is an entirely appropriate initial response to excessive government…regulation. An entirely appropriate follow-up to this would have the city modify its ordinance to decriminalize the display of the American flag in the public square.