A. Linden’s letter “To the man I sat next to on the train: I am the gun owner you hate’’ generated more than 500 reader comments on BostonGlobe.com since its publication Jan. 9. Despite the extraordinary response, we have shut off the comments in response to an anonymous posting that included personal details about the letter writer.

The following is an edited sample of reaction from our online readers:

To those who question A. Linden’s ability to keep them safe if there was a gun-toting attacker on board that train, one thing is certainly clear. Without Linden there was zero chance of protecting you, and the attacker would be free to shoot whoever and how many he chose. With Linden’s gun on board there was a 90 percent chance you and Linden would be alive to tell the story. Sounds like pretty good odds to me. (martdec) . . .

Really? Zero chance? Please explain the incident on the French train where unarmed men took out the attacker. (bobkav) . . .

Cops with guns are killed. What makes you think Linden is immune just because he has a gun? I have several family members who are gun owners. That doesn’t stop them from supporting sensible gun regulations. It’s time for Republican congressmen and the NRA to follow the wishes of the majority of Americans and NRA members. (facts-in-time) . . .

There are probably more people on that train who can defend themselves just as well without a gun and perhaps more safely than Linden with a gun. (attaturk) . . .

Whatever your thoughts on this piece are, I am still sitting here sweating, thinking about how I could be sitting next to someone on the train with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol under their coat. We have a problem here, folks. (brenda73) . . .

No one should have access to a gun without a background check. I went through the entire procedure, a four-hour class, fingerprints, a federal background check, had to give names of friends and neighbors for them to check, and I practice at a gun club. Honest gun owners have no problem with making sure that everyone who has a gun has been checked out. The problem we have is the people who buy guns on the black market, or steal them, with the intent to bring harm to others. Look at the grandmother in Manchester, N.H. She was followed, someone attempted to mug her, and she shot him. It was the first time she used the gun. You can pass all the laws you want, you can tighten the regulations all you want. It will never stop criminals from getting guns, sadly. (migh) . . .

Bad people will find a way to get a gun no matter what laws are in place. Enforce the laws in place already and that would make a dent. Instead [people] are bailed out or repeat offenders. Lock them up and throw away the key. Isn’t it already against the law to shoot people? (redsoxfannj) . . .

I once witnessed a shooting on the Venice Beach boardwalk. The shooter disappeared into the crowd. Another bystander pulled a gun, presumably to protect himself and all the other innocent bystanders. When the police arrived, he ended up in handcuffs. Just think if there were another armed person in the crowd who thought he was the shooter. (sidmcd) . . .

Police response time — it’s just that, a response time, never fast enough in the moment you need them. I cherish and honor my right and ability to protect those I love. I’d even try to protect the person sitting next to me on that train, should, G*d forbid, the need arise. I expect and pray I will never need to act, but I am NOT the person who should lose the right to own and carry. (drharrison) . . .

Nobody is trying to take away your constitutional right to own a firearm. Keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally unstable and those who are criminally inclined should be the goal of all responsible citizens, whether liberal, moderate, conservative, independent, Republican, or Democrat. The goal is to make a safer nation for our children and ourselves. The current slaughter cannot continue. (TC-Berlin) . . .

THAT is the problem with the dialogue. Gun owners hear “common sense’’ and “reasonable’’ without those terms being clearly defined. Then they end up with Draconian laws such as those in Massachusetts and California. (HIJT) . . .

I always approved of the unpopular Guardian Angels. Curtis Silwa’s group went out unarmed and kept violence way down. I think most thugs melt in an aura of people willing to defend themselves. Law enforcement couldn’t or wouldn’t recognize another way of keeping people safe. The Guardian Angels wore uniforms that identified them, and if people felt better with them on the street, who would object? Haha. Guess. (WFC49) . . .

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (FransBevy)