There Had To Have Been Another Way...

So sad:

CLARKSVILLE — A self-inflicted gunshot during Thursday’s City Council meeting ended a life, a business and years of public meetings at 108 Public Square.

The council had just voted down the second reading of a request from Ronald “Bo” Ward to have his Madison Street home rezoned as commercial property.

Ward, owner of Bo’s Barber Shop across from Fort Campbell’s Gate 1 entrance, had said the rezoning would increase his property value, allowing him to secure a loan to offset debt he incurred when he expanded his shop.

The council approved first reading of the request last month, when Ward tearfully explained that his barbershop would go under — with most of the 101st Airborne deploying to Iraq — if the council did not approve the request.

“If this (zone change) doesn’t go through, I lose my home, I lose my shop, I lose everything I got,” he said then.

After Thursday’s 5-7 vote was cast, Ward stood and walked steadily toward the council.

“Johnny (Piper), I know I can’t speak,” Ward said over the mayor, who was telling Ward the public comment period had ended.

“Y’all have put me under,” Ward said, pulling out a small silver handgun.

“I’m out of here.”

A gunshot punctuated his sentence, and Ward fell at the feet of those sitting in the first row. He appeared to have pulled the trigger with the gun in his mouth.

This is distressing on so many fronts: you have a small business owner, war vet and "All-Around American" rolled up into one and his world falls apart in an instant. These are the people who used to be considered the backbone of the country, and they are being dismissed like flies. It's almost like a modern-day "Mr Smith Goes to Washington."