Shooting range should be moved

As a retiree living in Hawaii Kai, I am interrupted several days a week by the sound of gunfire from the public shooting range near the entrance to Hanauma Bay.

This morning, all I hear is the sound of weapons fire, which still touches off a bit of PTSD nearly 50 years after returning from Vietnam. Living near an open-air firing range definitely has a negative impact on the quality of my life, and surely there are others who feel the same.

I remember past discussions about moving or closing the range, but now it seems to be far more active than it used to be.

How about contracting with one of the military bases and moving the range there? That way, responsible owners of registered firearms could be more closely tracked, and the only people who have to listen to the nightmarish sound of gunfire all day would be the ones who signed up for it.

Don Child

Hawaii Kai

Change speed limits, not driver behavior

Instead of passing an unenforceable “lollygagging” law, why not adjust the speed limits to the speeds at which people are actually driving?

There are many roads on this island with multiple lanes that are way under-posted.

When prevailing traffic is going 45 in a 35 mph zone, change the limit to 45.

When the prevailing traffic is going 65 or 70 in a 55, change it.

Increasing the speed limits to match what traffic is actually doing would reduce road rage and prevent lollygagging in the wrong lane.

Wim Blees

Mililani

Beach, trail access must be protected

Beach and trail access are two things that make our island home special.

Therefore, I was saddened to see the city impose a temporary ban on parking in Lanikai on long weekends and to consider closing access to the Maunawili Falls trail.

If the Lanikai parking ban is made permanent and Maunawili Falls is closed, it will set a bad precedent.

The North Shore also deals with horrendous traffic. Many other popular trailheads such as Lanikai pillboxes and Manoa Falls also are in residential neighborhoods.

Instead of simplistic solutions, how about working to come up with long-term solutions that are fair to all?

For Lanikai, purchase some land for a small parking lot, showers and restrooms modeled after Kalama Beach Park. This would ease parking problems.

For Maunawili Falls and other trailheads, install trash cans, issue fines to parking violators and charge tourists an admission fee. Use the money to maintain the trails.

Let’s keep our beaches and trails easily accessible to all and not just to those who live in those neighborhoods.

Shiyana Thenabadu

Kailua

Many homeless taking advantage

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, or so I thought. But apparently there is.

The homeless are banking on our sympathy and are taking advantage of our generosity. The more you give, the more they want.

Teach them how to fish, so they can feed and clothe themselves.

If their disabilities were self-induced, then sorry, they should dig themselves out and stop blaming everybody else for their troubles.

Keep building shelters for the homeless and believe me, they will come from all over the world to live in paradise.

Then what about the law-abiding citizens who just want to enjoy the public spaces for which their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent to keep clean and beautiful?

We have to live among filth because they are homeless?

Luis Navarro

Palolo

Sanders represents justice, not freebies

I’m an ’80s baby. My decision to support U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in the upcoming presidential election, however, doesn’t stem from a millennial-based desire for “free” stuff; rather, it is a product of reflecting on the privilege I enjoy.

Free tuition at public universities will come too late for me. It has been more than a decade since I’ve relied on a minimum-wage job, and I currently enjoy access to health care.

My comfort, however, shouldn’t blind me to the tens of millions in our country who still live in poverty and lack access to health care.

What should we tell the millions of young people for whom college is unaffordable?

Should we deny justice to the millions swept up in a criminal justice system operating to produce profits for private prisons and marked by racial disparity?

I believe it’s time to put our foot down.

Our government should represent the people.

Matthew Weyer

Moiliili

Rules for pot outlets seem suspicious

It appears there are too many questionable hands adding ingredients to the pot regarding marijuana here in Hawaii.

Whatever is cooking is producing a stinking odor.

First, the state Department of Health said no to releasing names of those who will decide who gets a dispensary license.

Next, marijuana has to be grown in warehouses using electricity instead of taking advantage of our plentiful sunlight. The high cost of electricity would drive the consumer price sky-high.

Finally the state gets gigantic tax revenues due to marijuana’s high sales price. So it seems that the state’s revenue would increase from marijuana rather than gambling.

What does the state consider worse: gambling or increasing crime and the increased drug use that results from marijuana leading to harder drugs?

Teresa Mary Tugadi

Mililani