I was struck by the quotes of two shoppers about the shooting at the South Shore Plaza on Feb. 3 (“Police arrest 23-year-old man in South Shore Plaza shooting,’’ Metro, Feb. 5).

It is revealing how so many people have become conditioned to instinctively associate local gun violence with exceedingly rare terrorist attacks, while blithely ignoring daily violence and weekly murders committed by criminal citizens within nearby communities. It is an indication of how far we have moved from basing our perceptions on plain numbers and facts to irrational and greatly exaggerated fears of the most remote dangers.

You have a higher chance of getting killed by the impact of a meteorite than being killed by a terrorist, and a much higher chance of getting caught in what some sadly refer to as “normal’’ gun crossfire. Yet our domestic and foreign policy seems to be controlled by fear of the least probable danger, while we are neglecting our own high-crime neighborhoods and are actively increasing the chances for random shootings through elimination of gun controls. Go figure.

Ralf Heilmann

Dedham