Editorials
Wednesday, August 14, 1996
Killings illustrate danger
of firearms
THE stunning triple murder-suicide in Mililani leaves many questions to be answered, but one thing is clear: The availability of firearms made this tragedy possible. In this case, like thousands of others across the nation, the killer used a handgun against neighbors in what appears to have been a petty dispute over cars blocking a driveway and children making noise. Then he turned the gun on himself.
Gun advocates are fond of saying guns don't kill, people do. Right, but they often use guns.
In many cases, guns kill relatives. Thousands more, often children, die in firearms-related accidents. In most cases, these deaths would not have occurred if guns had not been at hand. They surely were not the purpose for which the guns were acquired. Obviously, enraged people sometimes use other weapons besides handguns to vent their wrath. But sometimes they don't find anything as convenient or effective.
Opponents of gun control argue that people need to have guns to protect themselves from criminals. But there is at least as great a need to protect people from guns. According to Handgun Control Inc., 1,200 Americans die each year in handgun accidents. In one year, 12,701 people used handguns to commit suicide. The four killings in a quiet Oahu suburban neighborhood bring these grim statistics home.
Short of an outright ban - which we do not advocate - it's unlikely that any gun-control legislation could have prevented this tragedy. No one could have anticipated the shooting. But people who own firearms or are thinking of acquiring them should consider the dangers that accompany them.
Mining at Yellowstone
PRESIDENT Clinton's intervention to block development of a huge gold mine in the pristine environs of Yellowstone National Park points out the need for revising an antiquated law that allowed the mining plans to progress as far as they did. The Yellowstone area has survived this threat, but that is no assurance that similar mining plans will not surface, there or in the shadow of other geographic treasures. The 1872 Mining Law should be revised to provide the environmental protection that society has learned to expect for such endeavors.
Turkey's defiance
IT was just last week that President Clinton signed an anti-terrorism bill imposing sanctions on any foreign company that does more than $40 million a year in oil and gas business with Iran or Libya. Already the measure is under challenge - by Turkey. The wisest course of action for the White House would be to try to ignore Turkey's defiance and refrain from imposing sanctions. The law was a mistake that has infuriated other U.S. allies as an infringement of their sovereignty. Clinton was trying to look tough on terrorism for the voters at home by signing the measure, but the potential cost to the United States' foreign relations of enforcement would be much too high.
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Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor