Note to my fellow grumpy old men: Don't reach too quickly for your firearms

I don’t sympathize in any way with Andrew Lester, but I think I understand him. From what I hear through the media, he sounds like a fellow grumpy old man

- Clarence Page

I understand. I’m old and feeling grumpier by the day. But I don’t turn to firearms to do my talking.

The same apparently cannot be said for Andrew Lester, 84, the retired airplane mechanic who infamously gave a trigger-happy response to Ralph Yarl when the 16-year-old teenager knocked on Lester’s door in Kansas City, Missouri, not knowing he had come to the wrong address. Yarl was picking up his younger siblings at a friend’s home.

Far from a gangbanger, Yarl was described later in a statement by North Kansas City School District Superintendent Dan Clemens as an excellent student and a talented musician who maintains a stellar GPA while taking mostly college-level courses — far from a criminal profile.

Fortunately, the teen survived two gunshot wounds, including one to his head. The case stoked national outrage as a symbol of gun violence and national debates over self-defense, racial profiling, and “stand your ground” or “castle doctrine” self-defense laws.