Another senseless, tragic act of gun violence, and everybody will be pointing their fingers at the National Rifle Association, Stephen Paddock and others.

My finger is pointed at the Congress of the United States — the people whom we all voted for to look out for the people.

It was reported in the news media that “bump stocks” were determined to be legal years ago. How did Congress let this fall through the cracks?

I am for the right of people to own guns for hunting and recreation. Not automatic weapons. Legislation is now being introduced to ban the “bump stocks,” but only after many deaths and numerous injuries.

Congress has got to be smarter than that.

Albert Miral

Ewa Beach

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Government’s promises not kept

We’re heading into dangerous waters. The future now holds the promise of property tax increases to pay for rail operations; we were told that would never happen (“Rail recovery plan passes,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 7).

We were given assurances that the homeless situation would be taken care of with low-cost housing. Instead we see expensive “sweeps” that resolve nothing.

And every so often we see strides made to make a dent in our unfunded pension liabilities: a drop in the bucket.

When the now-housed become homeless due to inability to pay their property taxes, and the now state-employed find themselves homeless because there is no money to provide them with pensions, maybe then consideration will be given to allowing the homeless to live in the rail cars that will be sitting idle somewhere in West Oahu — hardly low- income housing given the exorbitant cost of rail.

Kathy Novak

Moanalua Valley

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Tax bill would help middle class

The tax reform bill benefits Hawaiians, contrary to Democrats saying that tax cuts hurt Hawaiians.

The myth that it only helps the rich is false. Here’s the truth: A tax cut for corporations is a tax cut for the average American.

The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate, nearly 39 percent. A worker might think, good! But the truth is, business owners wind up with a lot less money to spend, so they invest less in the businesses that employ the worker and his colleagues. Fewer jobs. Lower wages. Less competitive businesses.

A corporate tax cut is actually a “progressive” tax change, benefiting workers who earn their income in the form of wages. Those at the bottom will gain the most. The plan nearly doubles the standard deduction to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for families and offsets the pain felt for those who would lose the state and local deduction.

It is relief for the middle-class earners.

Rhonda Welsch

Kahuku

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Airline should choose Boeing

All Hawaiian Airlines president Mark Dunkerley needs to do to decide which aircraft to buy is to speak with his pilots (“Hawaiian Air in talks with Boeing,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 7).

A commonly heard refrain among them is, “If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going!”

Gerrit Osborne

Waialae Iki

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Police chief selection flawed

It is incomprehensible that the Honolulu Police Commission Chairman, Max Sword, is related to one of the finalist in the search for the next police chief (“Conflict may force police panel leader to sit out chief vote,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 6). Why is this just becoming public now?

Sword knew this from the very beginning but failed to notify the public. Why didn’t Sword reveal this information right away?

Surely he had to have known that this was a conflict of interest.

At the very least, why didn’t he ask the city Ethics Commission for a ruling from the very beginning?

This is why the public and many police officers don’t trust the system used to hire a new police chief. It smells of politics, of being unethical and an embarrassment to the men and women of HPD.

I, like many police officers, wondered how someone without police experience can become a finalist for the position of chief of police. It’s pretty clear now, and it smells.

Morris DeRego

Waipahu

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Haunted house worth the visit

I went to the debut of Jorge Garcia’s haunted house in Kailua the other night and had a frighteningly good time (“Garcia uses ‘Five-0’ breaks to create haunted attraction in Kailua,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 1).

Well-choreographed, costumed and acted, it is about 10 minutes and worth every penny. There is a “fast lane” for an extra $5 but strangely it was twice as long as the regular line.

The haunted house runs through the rest of the month, so do catch it. It is not gory but scary, so go to the kid-friendly shows if you have children under 12.

Mark Stitham

Kailua