To the editor:

Could this happen? I’m standing with my family in a long queue for “Star Wars” when a guy with a gun cuts in front. Another guy behind us also has a gun. I’m unarmed and powerless against the bad guy, but the good guy is standing up for the rest of us sheep. The bad guy won’t back down. Should we be happy when the shooting starts? Even if the only guy who ends up bleeding is the bad guy?

The real problem is not just — or even primarily — crazies with assault rifles. They account for a relatively small percentage of annual gun deaths. The real problem is lots of guys — good and bad — on lots of streets with lots of guns. The Chicago cops, who right after Christmas killed a 19-year-old honor student and a 55-year-old grandmother, seem to have been wrong, but can we reasonably doubt that they went in fearing they’d find guys with guns?

A few days later, a Florida woman woke to the sound of footsteps approaching in the dark. She had a gun. Today her 27-year-old daughter is dead. Parents are programmed to sacrifice for their children. A mother who runs into a burning house to save a daughter is no hero; she’s just doing what she must. The nightmare of losing her child is more terrible than fire. The Florida woman bought the gun to feel safe. Has the gun done that? Can we hazard a guess on how safe she will ever feel again?