Letter: Responsible gun owner an asset to public safety

Once again, a writer demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of what is required for someone to be granted a permit to carry a concealed weapon in Hawaii (“Restaurants should be gun-free zones, too,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, March 19). The writer seems to think that the properly vetted and trained permit holder would whip out their weapon at the slightest confrontation, “and suddenly all hell breaks loose.”

First, drawing the weapon in anything other than a life-threatening situation is called “brandishing” and is a felony. Secondly, it is unlikely that anyone would know that the permit holder is armed, since the weapon is likely concealed.

Personally, I would welcome having a properly permitted, trained and armed patron sitting near me in a restaurant should the unthinkable happen and I am faced with an active shooter situation or other life-threatening event being perpetrated by a criminal.

There is nothing to fear from the licensed permit holder and everything to fear from the criminal.

Tim Gedney

Hawaii Kai

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