Don’t let public use highly lethal guns

The AR-15 and other weapons with high-capacity magazines were designed for military use and not for civilian use.

The military has legitimate uses for highly lethal weapons such as bombs, land mines, grenades and automatic weapons that are banned to the public. Why should rifles with large-capacity magazines that are designed to kill large numbers of enemy combatants be exceptions?

The Second Amendment should not be misinterpreted as protecting the unlimited use of weapons of mass destruction by the general public. The government should have the flexibility to impose necessary restrictions on highly lethal weapons to protect the public.Other civilized countries have dramatically reduced their gun murder rates by enforcing strict limitations on gun purchases.

Ivy Conry
Kailua

Military-style guns are for the military

I agree with Sid Rosen ("Second Amendment quoted out of context," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Jan. 13). The National Rifle Association is neither a militia nor is it "well-regulated."

There is no justification for any civilian non-member of a non-existing militia to own any military-style weaponthat is intended essentially forhigh-power use by the United States military.As I see it, guns do kill people, and a lot of guns killa lot of people.

David Friedman
Honolulu

GM foods are safe; labeling not needed

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has confirmed what we’ve been saying all along — there is no health reason connected to genetically modified food that would require labeling.

The American Medical Association came to the same conclusion.

Labeling is used to provide nutritional information and information about potential risk. Foods containing genetically modified ingredients pose no risk to human health.Why should we bear added expense just to accommodate those who oppose GM foods because of lifestyle, ideological or religious beliefs? Many foods are already labeled organic or all natural, which addresses "right to know" concerns.

Hawaii leads the nation in the price of food.We pay up to 40 percent more for products than consumers on the mainland. Labeling will require government regulation and over- sight, which will result in higher labor costs that are passed on to consumers in the form of increased food prices.

California rejected mandatory labeling. Hawaii should do the same.

Fred Perlak
Vice president of research and business operations for Monsanto in Hawaii
Kunia

Te’o hoax is lesson for online daters

I feel for Manti Te’o after learning about the hoax of a girlfriend he loved. This is a lesson for everyone.

I often tell my single friends who are dating online that the person on the screen could be a phony. Whatever happened to dating before the Internet? Everyone had a face-to-face meeting and there was less deception.

I honestly believe that the key to successful online dating is to have a face-to-face encounter. If a person refuses to have such a meeting, that should be a red flag that the person is a fake.

People who use online dating should insist on a face-to-face meeting so that the relationship can start on the right foot, possibly ending up in marriage.

Alan Kim
McCully

Was killing soldier really appropriate?

When a 22-year-old unarmed veteran ofthe Afghanistan war on leave, who leaves behind a toddler in Alabama,is driving a borrowed vehicle in a strange town, leaves a bar underthe influence of alcohol, drives the wrong way up a deserted backstreet at 4 in the morning, refuses orders to stop, and rams three police cars, he is "endangering the lives of officers and the public."

As such, after surrounding him with 20 police cars andofficers on the Ala Wai outside my window, blocking any chance offorward movement, with no weapon or any suspicion that he had one,they are justified in shooting him dead. These facts, claim police,provide "preliminary indications that the officers acted properly."

Peter van Name Esser
Moiliili

Unexploded bombs litter Southeast Asia

President Barack Obama spoke of the importance of justice for all people in his inaugural address. He spoke for all Americans and, by extension, to all people on the planet. His worldview includes American influence on all regions of the world.

Having just returned from a Southeast Asia tour, I saw how underdeveloped countries such as Laos and Cambodia still struggle with some of the unexploded bombs and damage caused along their borders from the Vietnam War. Children and field workers still face dangers. A very small investment in their safety and infrastructure would yield a tremendous amount of goodwill for America.

A little aid to countries like these could be one of the most cost-effective uses of our financial resources overseas. Its value in present day human capital is unprecedented.

Jim Wolfe
Nuuanu

Biggest challenge is to reduce debt

Youreditorial encourages President Barack Obama to proceed boldly yet barely touches on our biggest problem of the future ("Obama should proceed boldly," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Jan. 21).

Tax revenues for 2012 are expected to be about $2.5 trillion and spending, more than $3.5 trillion. Even with increased tax rates the gap keeps getting larger every year.

How will the government ever repay its debts when the spending is nearly 50 percent higherthan its income?

Alan Poepoe
Nuuanu