Letters are posted as we receive them during the week, and before they are printed in the paper, so check back frequently to see new letters. If you'd like to send a letter to the editor, use this postmarks submission form, or email your letter directly to [email protected]. Thanks for your patience.

Dear Editor,
    Don Quixote famously tilted at windmills. Lately the Austin City Council has been tilting at Uber/Lyft [“Council to Vote on TNC Ordinance,” News, Dec. 14]. Meanwhile, every day the north-south 801 and 803 buses get stuck in traffic. If the council was really interested in improving transit they’d designate bus-only lanes for the entire 801 and 803 routes. The only way to get mass bus ridership is to make buses faster than cars.

Dear Editor,
    I found the contrast between the cover article on guns [“Let's Go Gun Crazy,” News, Dec. 18] and the article criticizing Acevedo, "Don't Be Getting Publicly Intoxicated" [News, Dec. 15]. And it struck me how alike the left and right can be.
    The common ground is simple. Everything happens for exactly one reason, and if you find it, you need not look for more. Sandy Hook happened when an insane guy wreaked havoc with guns. The NRA is quick to point out that if we only properly dealt with mental illness, this never would have happened. So there is no need for gun control. Never mind that there are millions of mentally ill people and we can't even find all of them.
    On the other side, we have a simple solution to the rape problem – men shouldn't rape women. So when Art Acevedo makes the point that women should acknowledge that we do not live in a perfect world – and never will – and should not make themselves an easy target, he is attacked.
    Some years ago, I was in Quito, Ecuador, and wandered out of the area the police protected. I got mugged. Whose fault was it? Certainly the muggers bear responsibility. But so do I. The blame is not always limited to one person.
    It is considered rape if a man has sex with a woman too intoxicated to consent. And it is. However, that does not make her not foolish. Only by acknowledging our own weaknesses can we make life better.

Dear Editor,
    I am a practicing Muslim, and respecting Jesus (may peace be on him) is part of my faith. The Quran talks about Jesus as "honored in this world and the next" (3:46). Religions are from God to teach humans high moral values. But today, ignorance and extremism are tainting the face of religion and becoming a hurdle between man and God. Hate speech and intolerance can never be a solution to any problem. With the hope that we can together eradicate the forces of evil, I would like to send a message of peace to my Christian brothers and sisters on this Christmas. May we be able to comprehend and utilize the power of peace and compassion to save our world from destruction.

Dear Editor,
    I wholeheartedly agree with Ms. LeBlanc's statement "Prevention starts long before anyone orders a drink or an Uber" [“Don't Be Getting Publicly Intoxicated,” News, Dec. 15]. I invite the Chronicle to read all dress codes in the area high schools of the multiple surrounding school districts. You will see a disproportionate effort to cover girls' bodies up. I have had kids in high schools of both sexes, and when I asked them if they ever had any conversation on whether a girl's clothing or state of awareness could ever be interpreted as "consent," the answer was they never had any such conversations in the class. And this in spite of many hours of advisory and a required counseling curriculum for all grades. The justification for dress code rules is often to avoid clothing described as "distracting," and I always wonder if it is distracting for the kids or for the adults on campus.
    As a parent I have had such conversations with my children. I also support commonsense dressing rules for school, such as kids should wear clothes, not pajamas, not just underwear. But I think many of the rules have an implicit bias about covering the girls rather than teaching boys self-control.

Dear Editor,
    Regarding UT's recommendations for where guns would and would not be allowed [“Let's Go Gun Crazy,” News, Dec. 18]: I would prefer no guns on campus at all, but I think guns in dorms will be safer than guns in classrooms. Students have the choice to not live on campus, but they do not have the choice of where to attend their classes. With room and board costing more than tuition these days, could this recommendation have more to do with school finances than with the safety of students and teachers?

Dear Editor,
    With open carry laws less than two weeks away from bringing gunslingers to the produce aisle at the grocery store or in our classrooms, we Texans need to develop a new etiquette for firearms.
    Just because something is legal, doesn't mean you ought to be doing it. Nobody wants to see you playing Cowboy or Soldier at the hardware store, or while I am trying to eat my dinner.
    I do not know what you are so afraid of that you would need to carry a gun, but your being armed makes me more afraid of you and for you. I am afraid you will mistake someone as a threat and shoot them, or get yourself shot.
    It is time we started a conversation about just when and where loaded firearms should be considered socially acceptable, not just what the law allows.
    Frankly, I would rather you just left your gun at home.