Name the airport after Dan Inouye

I believe Hawaii should honor all the great work done by the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye by naming an appropriate memorial after him.

John Burns has the University of Hawaii medical school. William Richardson has the UH school of law. Les Murakami has the UH baseball stadium. And John F. Kennedy has the international airport in New York.

I believe the best way to honor the memory of Dan Inouye is to re-name Hono-lulu International Airport to the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

It would keep his name alive throughout the world and be a fitting tribute to the man who did so much for Hawaii and the nation.

Herb Ho
Aiea

Right to guns not about hunting

I notice in the gun debate that many people who want stricter gun control are politicians and elites surrounded by armed guards.

However, the Second Amendment is more than about self defense for regular citizens; it is also about a government trying to disarm its citizenry and proclaim it is the master and not the servant of the people. If people in other foreign countries want to disarm, then let them.

Another false argument is that the Founders never imagined semi-automatic weapons. Nor did they imagine the Internet, television or radio, yet the First Amendment is almost sacred, as it should be.

It is also not about sport shooting or hunting, as some seem to think. The issues of the availability of bazookas, grenades, machine guns and military ordnance were adjudicated many years ago; they are not allowed.

Criminals and many governments love a disarmed society; check North Korea and Nazi Germany.

Jim Quimby
Kalihi

Hawaii gun laws could be model

Hawaii was nationally recognized as the home of our great U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye.

Now we have the opportunity to be nationally recognized again for new gun control legislation this January.

As the only island state in our nation, we are in the unique position to greatly stiffen gun control laws without interference from neighboring states whose citizens can freely cross state borders with their armaments. Hawaii can become the gun control laboratory for the nation, and the results can speak for themselves.

Rights of hunters and arms for protection do not have to becompromised. There are plenty of common-sense ways to add safety for all of us through legislative action, if only our lawmakers will not be influenced by National Rifle Association money.

Unfortunately, that may not be possible, but maybe some new Dans will rise to the occasion.

H. Brian Moore
Wilhelmina Rise

Education better than prohibition

Pamela Lichty’s letter ("Educate, don’t criminalize," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Dec. 12) suggested key strategies for how Hawaii can move forward to address critical issues that challenge our communities.

Lichty’s basic point was that while legislation prohibiting specific drugs may work in the short term, wouldn’t it make more sense to spend our resources on educating the public for long-term impact?

Exactly.

Think distracted driving: We have a law in place to prohibit cellphone use. but how many of us have seen drivers reading the paper or fumbling with music choices not covered by this law?

Think HIV, domestic violence, child abuse and mental health issues like depression. Hawaii can make significant progress and save huge amounts of money by investing in effective, research-based public education.

Legislation can provide strategies to address community challenges when combined with well-planned, community education initiatives providing transformational messages that make a difference.

Lynn B. Wilson
Waipahu