BRONX TIMES REPORTER, FEBRUARY 1 BTR 18-24, 2022 13
letters & comments
Research shows
gun restrictions
help make us safer
There’s nothing
new about gerrymandering
To the Editor,
One can judge a person’s
character by the company
they keep. Did you receive an
invitation to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s
latest campaign fundraiser
that was held in Manhattan
on Feb. 10? Tickets
were only $45,200, $25,000 or
$10,000, which was the cheapest
priced ticket. You would
have enjoyed rubbed shoulders
with New York state’s 1%
favorite pay-to-play special interest
groups and Democratic
Party elite.
Hochul already has $22.9
million in cash on hand before
her latest fundraiser to
run for her fi rst full term.
Don’t forget all the perks of
public offi ce used to generate
free publicity on a daily basis.
Like most ordinary New Yorkers,
I could not afford the price
of admission. I was willing to
Photo Getty Images
Gov. Kathy Hochul Photo | Marc A. Hermann / MTA
park limousines, bus tables,
mix drinks or check coats.
According to the state Board
of Elections, as of Nov. 1, 2021,
there are a total of 12,318,347 active
voters. Democrats outnumber
Republicans 6,173,560 to
2,709,044, with 154,674 Conservatives,
45,921 Working Families,
438,010 listed as Other
Political Party and 2,797,138
having not selected any political
party.
Hochul’s most likely November
general election opponent,
assuming she wins her
own June Democratic Primary
will be Suffolk County Republican
Congressman Lee Zeldin.
He has raised $4.2 million and
has $5.6 million available. His
potential primary challengers,
assuming they can obtain suffi
cient signatures from GOP
voters to force a primary, could
be former Westchester County
Executive Rob Astorino, who
has raised $764,204 and has $1.3
million available, or son of former
Mayor Rudy Guiliani, Andrew
Guiliani, who has raised
$85,601 with $188,409 available.
Zeldin has run with Conservative
Party cross endorsement
in the past and
odds favor he will do so again.
Hochul has an overwhelming
voter-registration advantage
and will outspend Zeldin by
millions. As the odds on favorite,
it is Hochul’s race to
lose. The last time a Republican
won was George Pataki in
2002.
Larry Penner
To the Editor,
Re: Larry Penner’s opinion
piece on gerrymandering in
the Feb. 11 editor of The Bronx
Times/Bronx Times Reporter.
First, I happen to agree
with the author on the amount
of real estate the congressperson
will have to cover with
the newly realigned district.
But the author acts as if this
practice is brand new. Former
Congressman Eliot Engel’s
district ran all the way up to
Rockland County from the
Bronx. The former district of
my former state senator literally
looked like Abraham Lincoln
sitting on top of a vacuum
cleaner from the 1950s; in my
former Assembly district the
fi rst election district is next
door to the 99th, etc.
Second, I will ask the same
question I have been asking
before on these pages: What
is the author doing other than
writing opinion pieces and
complaining about it? There
are races for Assembly, Senate
and Congress this year. Many
party races are also being held
this year. Why doesn’t the author
try and put together a
team and run for offi ce, or at
least run for a position within
his political party? That way
he will at least have a vote on
its candidates.
I do not at all agree with the
candidates my political party
has chosen for offi ce; I am on
the state committee. The convention
is later in the month.
I am going to the convention
to vote and voice my opinion
(calmly and respectfully, of
course).
In all the years I have been
reading “letters” pages, I saw
only one appointed offi cial
ever respond: former NYC
Parks Commissioner Adrian
Benepe. Doesn’t the author
understand the futility of constantly
complaining and backing
it with nothing else?
Nat Weiner
To the Editor,
Hold onto your hats folks. I
agree with the resident rightwing
columnist on one point,
that bail reform was a bad idea
and should be rescinded. However,
we part ways when the
author portrays the idea of bail
reform as endemic among progressives,
when in actuality,
only a tiny sliver of this group
supports the concept.
The most fl agrant falsehoods
this week include “…
the Left has justifi ed riots and
crimes …”. That charge is both
untrue and hypocritical, and
as usual, no evidence is offered
by the hard right author. Apart
from the GOP justifi cation of
the Jan. 6 insurrection, characterizing
the riot as “legitimate
political discourse,” I have
never heard any non-Republican
politician justify violence.
Then the ideologue echoes
the NRA straw man position
that “guns don’t kill people,
people kill people,” a fallacy
which understates “the relevance
of proximate causation,”
as D. K. Johnson notes in Psychology
Today. In other words,
the gun enables the murder to
occur. Guns allow criminal intent
to easily become reality,
making killing virtually effortless,
easier than using, say,
a knife or a baseball bat. As Tulane’s
Micheal Shammas notes,
“The issue is not whether guns
can spontaneously kill people
on their own. The issue involves
how incredibly easy a
modern weapon makes killing.”
Finally the author cites the
Fraser Institute, a Canadian
outfi t and recipient of much
cash from the notorious Koch
brothers, which somehow
provides a research conclusion
diametrically opposed to
all other research performed
on the relationship between
gun regulations and crime. It
shows that if there is an outlier,
Frank will fi nd it. Researchers
at more mainstream organizations,
such as Boston University
have found that, “The average
homicide rate in states
without background checks is
58% higher than the average in
states with background-check
laws in place.”
On the national front, the
news of Trump’s mishandling
of government documents, including
some that were top secret,
leads one to wonder, what
is he hiding? Coupled with
revelations detailing the attempted
deployment of government
agencies to seize voting
machines and concerted efforts
on federal, state and local
levels to overturn the 2020 election,
could these developments
convince the MAGA crowd that
this man should never be considered
for any future political
position? Nah, cults don’t work
that way.
These revelations demand
yet another investigation into
the disgraceful conduct of the
45th president.
Pasqual Pelosi
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Letters to the editor are welcome from all readers. They should be addressed
care of this newspaper to Laura Guerriero, Publisher, the Bronx Times Reporter,
3604 E. Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10465, or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.com.
All letters, including those submitted via e-mail, MUST be signed and with a
verifi able address and telephone number included.
Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and the
name will be published or withheld upon request.
No unsigned letters can be accepted for publication. The editor reserves the
right to edit all submissions.
Is governor’s race a David
versus Goliath matchup?
Governor Kathy Hochul signs legislation
extending the Emergency
Rental Assistance Program at the
Executive Mansion in Albany. Photo
by Mike Groll/Offi ce of Governor Kathy
Hochul
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