Your Views for May 14

Writer ‘confused’

Mr. Andrew Blaine (“Republican hypocrisy,” Your Views, May 12) seems to be a bit confused about terrorism, the Sandy Hook shooting, and the recently considered Senate gun-control bill.

Although the label of “terrorism” is normally applied to violent acts committed with the intention of affecting policy by inciting fear in the public and lawmakers, Mr. Blaine’s letter suggests that any act of violence committed by mentally unstable individuals should receive the same label.

So, to answer his question: No, James Holmes and Adam Lanza are not terrorists, regardless of how horrific their crimes were. Timothy McVeigh, on the other hand. …

Mr. Blaine also implies that these individuals have unimpeded access to guns. Again, Mr. Blaine is confused. Lanza stole his guns. The weapons used in Columbine were illegally bought by minors and illegally modified.

Seung-Hui Cho (the Virginia Tech shooter) omitted vital information in order to pass his background check. These and countless other incidents involved firearms which were already illegal and which would not be affected by an additional requirement for law-abiding citizens to undergo background checks before purchasing firearms. Before passing new laws, shouldn’t we enforce the ones already in effect?

Finally, although one poll suggests that 91 percent of Americans favor additional gun-control regulations, others show that 43 percent oppose the same. This is possible only because the responses can be influenced by the questions themselves, so statistics without identifiable sources should be distrusted.

Michael Valentine

Hilo

We need weeds

Mahalo to Norman Bezona for his article on weeds. A little change in perception of weeds could turn the war on weeds into a warming up to weeds.

Many gardeners have found that weeds buried deep inside the compost pile turn into excellent mulch for growing food, flowers, trees and shrubs.

Merle Hayward

Hilo