Columnist surrendered to fears

To the editor:

So, a liberal anti-gun columnist goes into a bookstore and sees a bulge in a man's jacket. 'It is clear” from the bulge, she concludes, that the man 'has a holstered gun.” She does not know the man, has 'no knowledge of his profession, personality, or character,” yet she fears 'he could be contemplating a robbery or seeking someone to abduct.” Among 'a million things,” the guy 'could be a fugitive, a drug dealer, a rapist, or” - heaven forbid - 'the owner of a sporting goods store.” Without confirming that the man is armed, Lynda Waddington gathers up her children and leaves the store. This passes for rational thought?

Waddington abjectly surrendered to her fears, a cowardly result for someone with strong opinions. Clearly, she has nothing in common with the late cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Imagine this Waddington: that fellow in the bookstore might have averted a massacre if he had been in Charlie Hebdo's office when the terrorists arrived.

Christopher H. Marks

Amana