³ÉÈËXÕ¾

I saw the Facebook discussion about an incident at where a woman entered an AM/PM market at about 11 p.m. to get her gas receipt, but went in unmasked, despite the warning sign.

The clerk asked her several times to put a mask on, she refused, so he grabbed her jacket to escort her out. After he got her outside and went back into the store, she pulled out a handgun and waved it at him.

That got her arrested, and she has since been released.

A lot of people commented on the store, saying the clerk actually assaulted her and ought to be fired, and that she legitimately felt threatened. And there were people on the other side saying she had no business waving that gun.

But then there were also comments blaming the mask mandate — the argument being that if there wasn’t a mandate, this would never have happened.

One commenter wrote: “It’s so sad this scenario has been created by our dictator Governor! People with a propensity for violence are feeling justified in their rebellions.”

So why is that? Could that be because of all the people calling the governor a dictator?

If you’re going to blame the mandate for this, I can just as easily blame all the people who’ve ridiculed the mandate. Isn’t that what’s making people think it’s OK to ignore it, to the point of waving a gun at a convenience store clerk working alone at 11 p.m.?

Yes, the mandate is the reason the clerk forced her out of the store. But the reason she resisted him was a belief that she need not comply with a legal mandate being enforced on private property.

So, if the mandate is to blame for this, then so are the people who would make heroes out of those who defy it.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.