Letters: State should get its own Red Hill consultant; Traditional polling place lent gravity to voting; States control abortion, but not carrying guns?

The Navy’s newest contractor, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. (SGH), contends that the Red Hill tanks and distribution system are in such unsafe condition that defueling cannot proceed until the entire facility is fixed. Meanwhile, the existential threat to Honolulu’s water supply remains.

Another Navy contractor, ABS Consulting, earlier determined that there was a 27.6% risk each year that 10,000 to 30,000 gallons of fuel will leak into the environment given the deteriorating state of disrepair of the facility and leak history. The probability increases to 96% in 10 years!

There appears to be no evidence that SGH has considered the findings of ABS; otherwise, it would have required at least some defueling immediately through existing operable distribution systems, open up more pipes as soon as sufficient repairs are completed and not wait two years for all pipes and tanks to be repaired according to its plan.

The Navy-SGH slow-motion plan demands review and analysis by an independent fuel distribution expert selected and paid for by the state Department of Health and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply to expedite defueling at the earliest possible date.

Francis M. Nakamoto

Moanalua

Traditional polling place lent gravity to voting

“Traditional Election Day polling places will not be available,” announced our registration cards.

I lament the seeming end of the tradition. Setting aside one day every two years to dedicate time to vote in person underscored our duty and its purpose; it gave us confidence in the process. Now, affording us the “safety and convenience” of mail-in ballots submitted over the span of days, just seems to lower the gravity of it all.

We registered voters are culpable. While we began statehood at 84% voter turnout at the polls, and kept the rate above 60% for decades, lately we have faltered. On average, only 40% of registered voters have voted since 2000. That changed to 51% during the 2020 mail-in election. Perhaps we have sent the message that relegating the gravity of a ballot to a level somewhere between bills and junk mail is OK.

John Hansen

Waipahu

States control abortion, but not carrying guns?

Jacob Sullum’s column on gun rights is emblematic of the kind of hypocrisy that drives me crazy (“Politicians defy high court’s ruling on right to bear arms,” Star-Advertiser, July 16).

In my view, the Second Amendment is hazy about the right to bear arms, seeming to tie it to militias that as a practical matter no longer exist. But the Supreme Court has chosen to interpret that more broadly, which I accept, at least until a liberal court overturns the precedent.

However, the Second Amendment says nothing that specifically delineates, one way or the other, the carriage of deadly weapons in public places. So, based on the concept recently applied to Roe v. Wade, that definition falls to the states. But when some states choose to pass laws limiting carriage in specific locations, Sullum finds that objectionable.

You can’t have it both ways. No doubt the state laws in question will be litigated up to the Supreme Court, where they can either be consistent or nakedly political.

Jim King

Waikiki

Good guy with a gun saved many lives

The latest mass shooting at the Greenwood Park Mall in Indiana illustrates a fact: The death toll in a mass shooting is directly related to the time it takes for a good guy with a gun to show up. The faster the shooter is engaged, the lower the body count.

In this case the shooter, who was armed with a rifle and lots of ammunition, was taken out by a 22-year-old legally armed citizen.

Police cannot be everywhere at all times. That’s why legally armed citizens are so important. Think of the lives that were saved and the misery that was spared for grieving families by that courageous 22-year-old.

Thank God Indiana and the mall allowed him to be armed.

Rhoads E. Stevens

Hawaii Kai

Armed citizens could be as dangerous as shooter

For some, the actions of the individual who shot and killed an armed gunman at a mall in Greenwood, Ind., is proof positive that more guns are needed in public, through concealed or open carry.

But what happens when someone trying to stop a shooter ends up shooting and killing bystanders? Even after lessons, not everyone is going to be an expert shot.

What happens when the police arrive and find two or more people with weapons? How will they quickly determine who is the suspect or suspects? There are no easy answers.

Violet E. Horvath

Nuuanu

‘Year of the ’Bows’ should draw support

A fabulous Page C3 in Sunday’s Sports section, “Year of the ’Bows,” Star-Advertiser, July 17)!

The “Year of the ’Bows” celebration was a grand one, highlighting the accomplishments of several different sports and athletes of our beloved University of Hawaii.

Hopefully this will attract more people to come out and enjoy and support our student athletes and sports. Personally, I’m chomping at the bit for the Wahine volleyball season to start.

Go ’Bows!

Bob Mariano

Salt Lake

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