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Dick Porter uses a fear of terrorism to justify enforcing his version of the Second Amendment in Hawaii (“Hawaii’s flawed ‘concealed carry’ law makes us easy victims,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Dec. 22).
His argument does not hold up. Since 9/11, according to CNN, injury to Americans by terrorists, on U.S. and foreign soil, “accounts for 0.8 percent of all American deaths by firearms in the United States in the same time period.”
Porter might be happy in Missouri, which in 2007 repealed its requirements for background checks and purchase permits, and lowered the legal age to carry concealed guns. Since then, according to a Johns Hopkins study quoted in The New York Times, Missouri’s rate of homicide by guns rose from a rate of 13.8 percent higher than the rest of the nation, to 47 percent higher. Crimes linked to guns doubled.
Hawaii’s sensible laws upheld by our wise courts and Legislature have helped prevent us from becoming “easy victims” of homicide.
Felicity O. Yost
Waikiki
Volleyball TV team first-rate
It was great to see the Rainbow Wahine do so well in volleyball this year. They were a great team.
If you watched on TV, it sure makes you appreciate the Leaheys and Chris McLaughlin as our announcers. McLaughlin is far better than any of the national color commentators for volleyball I’ve ever heard.
Jim Slavish
Kailua
Honor workers at Pearl Harbor
“Back in the Day” tells of the memorial built at Pearl Harbor at the USS Arizona “to honor the memory of fallen comrades.”
My dad didn’t “fall” until 2002 the age of 91. He and many of his comrades were civil service workers throughout that war.
There are few of them left, as the workers were in their 30s, unlike the sailors, who were much younger.
I keep hoping someone will publicly commend those workers who died so many years after Dec. 7, 1941.
On Dec. 7, my dad was one of those who called their car pools and drove over the Old Pali Road and other places to do their duty and stayed at work seemingly forever, crawling over wounded ships and into bilges to estimate the damage, even as explosives kept rocking the boat they were on. They drove rapidly toward Pearl Harbor (and other duty stations) as the bombs were still falling. There is no memorial dedicated to them, the island civilian Portuguese, Hawaiian, Filipino, Chinese, Japanese and more.
I keep hoping, even as I get into my own very old age.
Anita Marciel Williams
Wildomar, Calif.
Hate comments lead to violence
Driven by extreme ideology, some of the GOP presidential aspirants are exploiting the tragic events in San Bernardino, Calif. and Paris to foment anti-Muslim sentiments with their inflammatory rhetoric against the Muslims and refugees.
Their hateful and radical comments would only fan the flames of radicalization, giving the homegrown “sleeper cells” like the one that carried out the San Bernardino attacks a reason to strike again.
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush said, “The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. … Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace, they represent evil.”
This was a proud moment for a grieving nation. Instead of emulating what Bush did, the GOP candidates have doubled down on their radical positions using words that breed hatred and divisiveness.
We can fortify our national security and defend the freedom that Americans deeply cherish without abandoning our core democratic values, which have made America the greatest nation on earth.
Rod B. Catiggay
Mililani
Stop illegal fireworks blasts
I want to thank the folks who have been lighting off the firework bombs deep into the night these past couple weeks in Kalihi Valley for waking my toddler, wife, and me, and making our dogs bark.
It’s really great to be jolted out of bed in the middle of the night when we have to wake up in the morning to go to work.
One reason it’s against the law now is because of people like them who have no respect for others.
I guess the words “aloha” and “akamai” are words that belong to a bygone era. So few people care about their neighbors anymore.
Christopher Hawkins
Kalihi Valley
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