Letter: $5 earplugs better than fireworks crackdown

Naivete, thy name is Lawmaker (“Assortment of Hawaii bills aim to curb illegal fireworks,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 29). On New Year’s Eve, there was one death.

Let’s look at the record: 38,800 deaths and 100,000 injuries by guns a year. Are we going to outlaw guns? No. We won’t. There were 42,900 deadly car accidents. Are we going to outlaw cars? No, we won’t.

But let’s assume we do. Would there be no more gun killings, no more deadly car accidents, no more illegal fireworks?

Let’s face the facts: There would still be all of them. So what do they propose? Inspect more shipping containers. What? Empty every 10th container out of 200,000 a year? By whom? Where?

Cut open every bag, sack and box, break open every wooden and metal container and canister? And seal them back up? Who pays for that?

Just invest $5 in ear plugs and make that tax-deductible.

Forget those high-sounding, unrealistic games. Just build more homeless shelters. Give those poor people their deserved, normal life. Now.

Gerhard Hamm

Nuuanu

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