O Say Can You See: Statesville Suing Business for Refusing to Remove Giant American Flag

IREDELL COUNTY – Municipal push back can be expected if someone is flying an oversize Confederate flag, which has happened a few times recently, but an American flag? Push back, and fines, are exactly what the owners of Camping World in Statesville are facing for flying a large American flag at their dealership.

Apparently the flag at Camping World is just too big, violating municipal regulations about flag sizes within a certain distance from the roadway, so Statesville is suing the business owners and have started fining them for every day the flag is not removed. The owners, however, say it’s about more than just the flag and refuse to take it down.

The petition to support the flag-fliers and so far it has accrued over 35,000 signatures. The businesses are facing fines of $50 a day, going back to October 15, 2018, for as long as the flags remain. Judging by their statements, though, the business owners don;t plan on backing down, even if the fines increase.

“I don’t care if it goes to $500 a day. It’s not coming down,” Marcus Lemonis, CEO and chairman of Camping World and Gander RV told WSOC. “My family has been car dealers, had been car dealers since the 1960s, and our key trademark was always flying our flag in our dealership in south Florida.”

It all just goes to show that Big Government can be a nuisance in small towns as well. The nitpicky and arbitrary regulations in municipalities extend beyond far beyond flag sizes and often have the same hindering effect on businesses that Big Government regulations do. All politics is local, and so making sure such capricious local regulations aren’t giving your town a bad look — in this case appearing to be against the American flag — is a good place to start making changes.

A town in the First in Freedom state shouldn’t be suing private businesses for having too much American pride.