Once again, America is reeling from another senseless act of gun violence (“Aloha goes out to ‘ninth island,’” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 3).

Once again we wring our hands, gnash our teeth, and wonder why this keeps happening to us. Once again the National Rifle Association will disavow all responsibility and cry out that this could have all been prevented if we just made sure that more “good guys with guns” were available to stop the “bad guy with an armory.”

Once again our screens will be filled with endless talking heads trying to figure out a way to control gun violence without actually controlling guns. And then, once again, the manchild-in-chief will issue another inane tweet and like a 3-year-old with a shiny new toy, our attention will shift and the debate will be over until once again, someone opens fire.

Steve Berkoff

Moiliili

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Shooter held onto guns until the end

The National Rifle Association will be pleased to note that the government did not take Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock’s guns until they pried them out of his cold, dead fingers.

John Sender

Makiki

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Replace sorrow with real anger

What a totally stupid cartoon on Tuesday (Star-Advertiser, Oct. 3). Sorrow has its rightful place but so does anger.

I am absolutely for the right of people to own guns, but unregulated assault weapons? The illogical National Rifle Association thinking about assault weapons is bewildering.

There needs to be a wave of anger against the NRA and all politicians and political parties that allow this to happen.They are the true and ongoing killers. When will we have the courage and persistence to stop it?

Paul Tyksinski

Kailua

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Lower beer tax could do harm

I’m somewhat worried that state Rep. Kaniela Ing wants to reduce the tax placed on beer (“Beer bill lowers taxation on average Joe’s libation,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 27).

Ing said that cutting this tax in half (from 93 cents per gallon to 42 cents per gallon) isn’t meant to encourage others to drink, but I believe it will spark a greater risk of accidents or deaths related to drunken driving.

Although this tax seems rather minuscule at face value, I believe that at the end of the day, alcoholic beverages will be easier to acquire. For some drinkers, this might sound like a blessing, without realizing the constant underlying threat.

Hawaii had one of the highest taxes for beer in the country, and now it would be lowered by a large margin. People would drink to that. However, maybe that’s more of a detriment.

James Heffner

Moanalua

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Slavery prevalent at anthem’s birth

Each of the four verses of the national anthem concludes with the phrase, “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

There were approximately 1 million Africans enslaved in the United States in 1814 when Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to what later became “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

In 1931, Congress confirmed an executive order signed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 designating it the national anthem.

Have the people who expressed such outrage at the kneeling NFL players given some thought to the possibility that most African- American football players are descendants of the aforementioned slaves?

Karen Howell

Manoa

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Unitarians open doors to LGBTQ

A group of us Unitarian Universalists caught our breaths when we saw the article about Christian churches welcoming LGBTQ people into their midst (“Churches urged to open to LGBT people,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 30).

We UUs welcome LGBTQ people into our congregations. We have designated congregations that took time to get to know members of their gay populations better, and agreed they hoped that more LGBTQ people would become part of the UU communities as Welcoming Congregations since the 1980s.

We welcome Christian congregations to join the joys of the real world.

Nancy Young

First Unitarian Church of Honolulu member

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TMT opponents hurt themselves

The resistance to building the Thirty Meter Telescope is only a flash point/excuse to get even for past sins, both real and imagined.

Also, the protests exquisitely define the phrase, “Cut off your nose to spite your face.”

The scientific community brings in many millions of dollars to the Hawaii economy. Shutting it down takes food out of the mouths of those who would work in support of the facility over the many years of its scientific quest.

Ken Barton

Lebanon, Ore.