Class-action suit needed so Navy pays for all fixes

I don’t understand why we don’t have a class-action lawsuit against the Navy.

Shouldn’t we, the citizens who have been, continue to be, seriously injured by the Navy’s lack of truth and bravery, be compensated in some way? The money needed to fix it, if such be possible, should come from the pockets of the Navy, or at least, the Pentagon.

Penelope Cardoza

Diamond Head

Not all distasteful speech is unlawful ‘hate speech’

Reader Daphne Barbee-Wooten is correct in her assertion that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution does not protect “hate speech” (“Hate speech is not protected free speech,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Sept. 20).

There’s one small problem with that argument, as it might be made with regard to individual liberties, and that is that arbitrary rules have no application. The First Amendment absolutely protects free speech, not just any one interpretation of speech, no matter how distasteful or objectionable, as it might meet the test of being unrestricted.

In her model, any speech that contradicts a given narrative can be viewed as unlawful “hate speech” — and that is a very dangerous precedent that effectively eliminates the marketplace of the exchange of ideas.

Stephen Hinton

Waialua

Don’t let fear of firearms conjure absurd scenarios

When people fear something, they don’t understand they paralyze their gray matter. Take for example a recent letter to the editor in which the writer made some ludicrous assumptions (“Open carry of firearms has many consequences,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 21).

The letter writer clearly exhibited ignorance and fear in writing that if he were a criminal looking to cause trouble, after entering an area where open carry is prevalent, he would “ … shoot, stab, or beat (everyone there) from behind before doing what I wanted.”

First, one person would be stopped fairly quickly from ever accomplishing his goal of stopping everyone.

Second, training will be required before an upright citizen is approved to carry. This training will likely include when to retrieve the weapon from the carrying case.

We shouldn’t be afraid of guns, and more importantly, if you are, then educate yourself.

This paranoia stems directly from a society that nearly banned open or close carry, and was finally set straight according to our Constitution.

Don Clark

Aiea

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