Dear Editor,
Re: “Guns or cars, which is more dangerous?” Letters, Feb. 11.
I read G. Simpson’s complaint about your report on the gun shooting, first with amusement, then with alarm.
Let’s start with the amusement. His letter was internally inconsistent: “..gross exaggeration from the statistics I’ve seen...,” followed by “Do they even keep serious statistics….?”
Then he claimed that guns are less dangerous than cars because, well, gun insurance is less than car insurance.
Mmm….does one follow the other? Or does insurance cost also reflect, at the very least, cost to buy a new car/gun if damaged or stolen, amongst many other factors?
Let’s leave those questions aside. What alarmed me was his closing statement, “..an emotional woman reporter who’s biased.” Wait, I thought this was a complaint arguing the facts. Where do we get “emotional” and “woman” from?
Can I connect the dots that this was actually a sexist letter that aims to harass? If we are to allow this type of sexist harassment in 2021 in the name of free speech, can we at least call it out?
Mark Leeson
RICHMOND
