The Kaʻū Calendar News Briefs, Hawaiʻi Island

Monday, June 06, 2022

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Monday, June 6, 2022

Huli'au, a musical ensemble playing and singing classic songs of Ka'u, includes Tamara Wong-Morrison,

Mililani Hughes and Dina Keoloa Kageler. Photo by D'Andrea Pelletier

JUNE 7 AT 4:30 P.M. IS DEADLINE TO FILE TO RUN FOR OFFICE IN HAWAI'I FOR THE 2022 ELECTION. It is also the deadline for candidates to withdraw from the race.
The deadline for voters to register in order to vote by mail in the primary is July 9. To deadline to register to walk in to vote in the Saturday, Aug. 13 primary is Aug. 3. The General Election Day across the country is Thursday, Nov. 8.
See the June 6, 4:30 p.m. report from the state, listing candidates who have successfully filed their papers at https://olvr.hawaii.gov/Controls/CandidateFiling.aspx?elid=87include. They include the following:
Incumbent U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz filed, along with Timothy Dalhouse of Kona in the Republican race, Emma Jane Pohlman from Honoka'a in the Green Party, Libertarian Feena Bonoan of O'ahu, and Dan Decker from O'ahu in the Aloha Aina Party.

Hawai'i's other U.S. Senator, Sen. Mazie Hirono, is not up for reelection.
To represent Kaʻū and all of rural Hawai'i in the U.S. House of Representatives, where Rep. Kai Kahele has stepped down from running in order to seek the governorship, the candidates include former

The deadline is July 9 to register to vote, if wanting to vote by mail. To register, see

https://elections.hawaii.gov/register-to-vote/registration/

state Sen. Jill Takuda, of O'ahu and O'ahu councilman Tommy Waters, both Democrats. Also running are Republicans Joe Akana of Waianae and Joseph Webster of Kailua-Kona, Libertarian Michelle Rose Tippens of Hilo, and numerous other candidates.

In the governor's race is former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona and B.J. Penn, running on the Republican ticket, along with Lt. Gov. Josh Green, U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele and former Hawai'i First Lady and business owner Vicky Cayetano running as Democrats. There are numerous other candidates, including O'ahu residents Selena Blackwell and Keline Kahau, of the Aloha Aina Party and Libertarians T.K Henshaw from Honolulu, Daniel Peddie of Volcano and Gene Tamashiro of Hilo. A non-partisan from Honoka'a running for governor is Iris Seaton.

In the Lt. Governor's race, candidates include Democrats Sylvia Luke, Keith Amemiya, Sherry Menor-McNamara and Ikaika Anderson, all of O'ahu, and Daniel Cunningham, of Volcano. Republicans in the race include Rob Burns and Zach Burd of O'ahu and Seaula Tupai, Jr. of Hilo. The Libertarian Party candidate is Michelle Rose Tippens of Hilo. The Green Party candidate is Melissah Shishido, of Maui.

For state Senator, Dru Kanuha, in a reelection bid, is seeking to represent a realigned district that includes all of Kaʻū. He is challenged by Republican Bob Sullivan, of Volcano, and Libertarian Aaron Toman, of Nāʻālehu.

For the state House of Representatives, Jeanne Kapela, in her reelection bid, is seeking to represent a realigned district that includes all of Kaʻū. She is challenged by Republican Lohi Goodwin, of Ocean View, and Libertarian Michael Last, of Nāʻālehu.

County Council candidates who have filed to represent Kaʻū south Kona and Volcano, in the non-partisan race are: Colehour Bondera, of Honaunau; Henry Cho, of Honaunau; Michelle Galimba of Na'alehu; Shane Palacat-Nelson, of Captain Cook; Courtney Provance, of Ocean View, and Chrissy Yeaman Carbonie, of Ocean View. Current council member representing Kaʻū and chairing the County Council is Maile David, who is unable to run in this election due to term limitations.

To register to vote in the election, see https://elections.hawaii.gov/register-to-vote/registration/

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html tml

HAWAI'I RANKS NEAR THE TOP IN THE U.S. FOR INCREASING ITS NON-FARM PAYROLL, BUT IT'S ALSO RATED AS THE 48TH WORST ECONOMY. That's according to WalletHub, which ranks of all the states and District of Columbia and puts Hawai'i's overall economy just ahead of Louisiana, Alaska and the bottom state, West Virginia. The study puts Hawai'i as 50th in Innovation Potential, 47th in Economic Potential, and 33rd in Economic Health. Hawai'i ranks last in Value of Exports.

Hawai'i's most positive ranking is fourth in the Increase in Non-Farm Payroll. It ranks second in State-Government Surplus Per Capita, which can be seen as positive and negative. It ranks 47th in Independent Inventor Patents per 1,000 Working Age Population.
The report also notes that California's economy is becoming larger than the individual economies of all but four countries, including the U.S. It lists the top five state economies as Washington, Utah, California, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Among other metrics, WalletHub takes into account low unemployment - Utah has the lowest; value of exports - Alaska, Louisiana, Texas and Washington are tied for the highest; number of people living in poverty - New Hampshire has the lowest; and foreclosure rates - South Dakota has the lowest.
See WalletHub's methods for coming up with these rankings at https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-best-economies/21697.

The late Auntie Kaiwi Perkins, who taught lauhala weaving to students at an annual Hawaiian Music and Lifestyle
Workshop in Pahala is the subject of a song in the repertoire of the group Huli'au which performs classic songs of Kaʻū.
Photo by Julia Neal

HULI'AU, A TRIO OF EDUCATOR-MUSICIANS, is planning to perform classic songs of Kaʻū throughout the area. Huli’au features Mililani Hughes, Dina Keola Kageler, and Tamara

Wong-Morrison, all long-time public school educators who also write poetry and dance hula together.

Tamara Wong-Morrison, Mililani Hughes and
Dina Keola Kageler perform classic Ka'u songs
in their group Huli'au. Photo by D'Andrea Pelletier

“We want to share with the new generation traditional songs that express aloha for a wahi pana, classic love songs, and songs which were part of the daily life of our kupuna. These songs tell of the history and legacy of our people in the days gone by,” said Hughes.
One song was written by Dina Keola for the late Kaʻū weaver, Kaiwi Perkins, well known for her participation in musical and cultural workshops in Pāhala and at her homes in Volcano and Pāhala.
The composition includes the words, “Listen to the lau while you weave it tight and slow . . .” and tells of the patience required to gather and weave the hala leaves.
Wong-Morrison said that composers of other songs performed by Huli'au include Mary Kawena Pukui, Eddie Kamae, George Na'ope, Katherine Mauna Kea, Aina Keawe, Kui Lee, Muriel Amalu, Irmgard Aluli, Ane Kanahele, and Boone Morrison.

One of the songs, Ke Ala Ka Jeep, was written when Kawena Pukui, Eddie and Myrna Kamae drove
around Kaʻū, then rested at Willy Meinecke's home in Waiohinu.

Also collaborating with Huli'au is special guest singer D’Andrea Pelletier, Queen of Opera; and Eli Emery on upright bass. Joining in with hula is Napua Romo and her mo'opuna: Hi'iaka, Ano'nui, and Kenahe Emery.

To connect with Huli'au, contact Tamara Wong-Morrison at 808-896-6354.

Moses Espaniola III is the new Guardians of the Trail
Youth Leader for Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes
National Park. Photo from Friends of HVNP

MOSES ESPANIOLA III, of Pahala, is the new fulltime Guardians of the Trail Youth Leader for Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Guardians of the Trails Youth Program was created in 2020 and is successfully running in its third year, said Friends CEO and President Elizabeth Fien. "For 2022, we were again awarded a grant from the National Park Foundation," to assist with Guardians. She noted that

"Moses comes with over ten years of experience working in the park. He was a Youth Ranger in the program's second year - class of 2011."

Fien also announced that young people between the ages of 18 and 30 who are interested in being a Guardian this year, can contact Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. "Recruitment has started and we will officially hire and start the program in August." Call

The Youth Ranger program is filled for the summer and the Rangers started work on Monday, the program running through Aug. 1.

See more at https://www.fhvnp.org/

See The Kaʻū Calendar June Edition at www.kaucalendar.com

See The Kaʻū Calendar June edition at

www.kaucalendar.com,

on newsstands and in the mail.

SEE UPCOMING EVENTS IN KAʻŪ & VOLCANO

at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html

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Sunday, June 05, 2022

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Sunday, June 5, 2022

A new gun inspection law, signed by Gov. David Ige on Friday, deals with ghost guns, guns brought from outside
the state and gun transfers between private individuals. See more below. Photo from Office of the Governor

WILL MORE SHORT-TERM VACATION RENTALS BE ALLOWED ON AGRICULTURAL LAND? That is the question coming up this Wednesday at a state Land Use Commission meeting with public testimony invited and the session available via zoom.

The meeting follows the LUC appealing a Kona judge's ruling in May. Third Circuit Court Judge Wendy DeWeese granted a petition for some 20 property owners in Waimea, Captain Cook and Kailua-Kona who contend that the state and county can not ban vacation rentals of less than 30 days on their properties. That is despite the requirement, dating back to 1976, that homes in the Agriculture District be used farm dwellings.

In Third Circuit Court in Kona, the state and county argued that vacation rentals are not the legal use of agricultural lands where single family dwellings must be used by those who create income from the properties through agriculture.

Nancy Cabral, center, a frequent sponsor in the Independence Day
Rodeo in Na'alehu, is Hawai'i Island's member of the state Land
Use Commission, which is holding a meeting Wednesday
and going to court to protect its limiting of vacation
rentals on agricultural land. Photo by Julia Neal

The county has allowed vacation rentals on ag land to be grandfathered in where the lots were created before 1976, but bans any new requests for rentals for less than 30 days. After the judge overturned the county regulation, the LUC is went to the state Intermediate Court of Appeals to overturn the judge's ruling, filing its appeal on Thursday.
See https://luc.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Agenda-for-JUNE-8-2022.pdf to submit testimony and to join the LUC zoom meeting.
The landowners claim that banning vacation rentals is an unconstitutional taking of their property rights, but the judge disagreed. She did agree and that state law fails to define the length of time that renting a dwelling makes it into a vacation rental and ruled that the county can't set a length of time on its own.
According to a story by Nancy Cook-Lauer in West Hawai'i Today on Sunday, "The ultimate ruling will have far-reaching ramifications. Some 1.2 million acres on Hawai'i Island — almost half of the land mass — is classified as agriculture. More than 1,500 of the county’s approximately 4,000 Short Term Vacation Rental applications during the first year of the program in 2019 were for nonconforming use certificates, primarily for agricultural land.
Cook-Lauer wrote: "About 50 owners of property in the agriculture district have appealed the county’s denial of their short-term vacation rental and nonconforming use applications to the county Board of Appeals."

Dr. Johnathan Likeke Scheuer chairs the state
Land Use Commission that classifies all Hawai'i
land as Conservation, Urban, Rural or Agriculture.

She noted that "those appeals have been on hold while the Rosehill case proceeds through the legal process." The Rosehill case, also called Rosehill petition refers to a leading plaintiff among the owners and trusts that filed the suit to ask for their properties to be approved for Short Term Vacation Rentals.

The West Hawai''i Today story shows a photo of a 5,000 square foot home on agricultural land in Kailua-Kona renting for $15,000 a month. The owners want to rent it for shorter terms and are among those seeking relief through the courts.

The state Land Use Commission's Hawai'i Island member is Nancy Cabral, who is well known for heading up the Pana'ewa Stampede Rodeo each year and for supporting rodeo in Na'alehu, as well as her Day Lum Rentals, the largest property management business in East Hawai'i.

Chair of the LUC is Dr. Johnathan Likeke Scheuer, a board member of Hawai'i Island Land Trust who lectures at the University of Hawai'i Law School and has worked with the National Park Service, Kamehameha Schools, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and many others on land use issues throughout the state.

See the names of all the commissioners at https://luc.hawaii.gov/about/state-land-use-commission-members/. Read more about the LUC's role in classifying lands of Hawai'i into the four districts of Conservation, Urban, Agriculture and Rural at https://luc.hawaii.gov/about/state-land-use-districts.

A NEW LAW REQUIRING INSPECTION OF GHOST GUNS, AS WELL AS GUNS FROM OUT OF STATE AND GUNS TRANSFERRED BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS was signed into law by Gov. David Ige on Friday. A statement from the governor's offices says HB2075 (Act 030) restores part of a previous gun law that was struck down by a federal court last year.
The new law requires the physical, in-person inspection of three categories of firearms that have been identified by county police chiefs as top concerns and threats to public safety. They are: Guns without

serial numbers (ghost guns), guns brought to Hawaiʻi from out of state, and guns transferred between private individuals.
The governor said, “In the wake of the tragic mass shootings in Uvalde Texas, Tulsa Oklahoma and in so many other cities across the U.S., and a week after a shooting injured four in Honolulu – it is more important than ever that the State of Hawaiʻi takes action against gun violence. Hawaiʻi has one of the lowest rates of gun violence in America, and this new law is key in helping law enforcement keep our communities safe.”
Among the state’s strict gun laws is one that requires people who buy guns to obtain a license and complete a firearm safety course.
Since Ige took office, Hawaiʻi has enacted new gun safety legislation that includes the Extreme Risk Law, which allows individuals to petition a court to disarm a person in crisis. Another law enacted during the governor’s term alerts law enforcement officials when anyone who is prohibited from owning a firearm, attempts to obtain a gun. And in 2020, Hawaiʻi joined other states in prohibiting ghost guns and the manufacture or purchase of parts for the purpose of assembling a ghost gun.

Beautiful but invasive, banana poka invades disturbed lands, like a
burned area between 3,000 and 3,500 ft. in elevation on Mauna Loa
where surveys and control efforts will be conducted this month.

HELICOPTER FLIGHT OPERATIONS BY HAWAI'I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK have been set for June:
June 6 between 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for sling loads of fence material to the Koa Unit of ʻŌlaʻa, between 3,500- and 4,000-ft. elevation;
June 8 between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. to support vegetation monitoring between 6,000- and 8000-ft. elevation on Mauna Loa;
June 13 between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. for Hawaiian petrel monitoring on Mauna Loa between 4,000- and 9,000-ft. elevation;
June 14 between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. for survey and control of invasive guinea grass in the coastal Keauhou area, between sea level and 3,000-ft. elevation;

June 15 between 6 a.m. between 11 a.m. for Hawaiian petrel monitoring on Mauna Loa, between 4,000- and 9,000-ft elevation. In addition, survey and control of invasive banana poka will occur in the Mauna Loa burn area, between 4,000- and 5,000-ft. elevation;
June 16 between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. for survey and control of invasive fountain grass from park's west boundary to Keauhou, between sea level and 4000-ft. elevation;
June 23 between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. for sling loads of fence material to Keanakākoʻi, between 3,000- and 3,500-ft. elevation.
June 30 or July 1, U.S. Geological Survey plans a schedule of low-level helicopter flights that will cover Kīlauea volcano over a three-week period. (Visit the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website for more information). The USGS may conduct additional flight operations over Kīlauea and Mauna Loa to assess volcanic activity and maintain instrumentation.

A statement from Hawai'i Volcanoes, says, "The park regrets any noise impact to residents and park visitors. Dates and times are subject to change based on aircraft availability and weather. Management of the park requires the use of aircraft to monitor and research volcanic activity, conduct search-and-rescue missions and law enforcement operations, support management of natural and cultural resources, and to maintain backcountry facilities."

See The Kaʻū Calendar June Edition at www.kaucalendar.com

See The Kaʻū Calendar June edition at

www.kaucalendar.com,

on newsstands and in the mail.

SEE UPCOMING EVENTS IN KAʻŪ & VOLCANO

at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html

LEARN MORE ABOUT SPONSORS OF THE KAʻŪ CALENDAR

at http://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/05/sponsors-of-kau-calendar.html

Saturday, June 04, 2022

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Saturday, June 4, 2022

Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program map showing the 48 volcanoes that were in a continuing eruption
status as of March 17, 2022. Continuing does not always mean persistent daily activity but indicates at least intermittent
eruptive events without a break of three months or more. Map from GVP. See https://volcano.si.edu/

KILAUEA'S COLLEAGUES: WHAT OTHER VOLCANOES ARE CURRENTLY ERUPTING ON EARTH? This is the title of this Volcano Watch, the weekly column by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's scientists and affiliates:
Kīlauea, one of Earth's most active volcanoes, has been on the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program list of erupting volcanoes since the current summit eruption began on Sept. 29, 2021. Prior to that, Kīlauea was on the list continuously from 1983 to 2018, after which it took a welcome two-year break. Kīlauea jumped back on the list in December 2020, but quickly dropped off when that eruption ended in May 2021.
Typically, in a given year, 40–50 volcanoes erupt, or a bit less than 10% of the world's active volcanoes. Let's take a look at a few of Kīlauea's notable contemporaries this year.
As of March 17, the GVP reported 48 volcanoes in an erupting status! This includes volcanoes that may be intermittently erupting without a break of three months or more.

See https://volcano.si.edu/

Many of the volcanoes in this list have been erupting recurrently for years to decades to even centuries. Yasur volcano, in the Republic of Vanuatu (South Pacific, Oceania), has been erupting intermittently since at least the year 1774. Stromboli volcano, in Italy, is thought to have been erupting semi-continuously for ten times as long according to Roman records!
The volcano to join the list most recently is Volcan Wolf in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador (South America). Volcan Wolf began erupting on January 6 of this year, with an 8-km (5-mile)-long fissure sending lava flows about 18.5 km (11 miles) down its flanks.
Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional, the organization responsible for monitoring volcanic activity in Ecuador, reported that the eruption ceased on May 5. So, Volcan Wolf may not be long on the list of erupting volcanoes, unless the eruption resumes or another eruption begins within the next two months.
Breaking the list of erupting volcanoes down by continent demonstrates how variable in location they are on Earth: One in Antarctica, two in Europe, four in Africa, four in North America, six in Asia (including three on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East), seven in Central America, seven in South America, and 17 in Oceania.
It's no surprise that Oceania, much of which lies within the "Ring of Fire," dominates the list of locations on Earth with erupting volcanoes. The Ring of Fire outlines the Pacific Ocean, and it is an area where volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are common due to tectonic plate boundaries.
Most of the erupting volcanoes in Oceania, South America, Central America, North America, and Asia are part of the Ring of Fire. Kīlauea, however, is located on the Hawaiian hot spot in the middle of the Pacific Plate and Ring of Fire.

The Ring of Fire where eruptions and earthquakes are common
due to tectonic plates boundaries. USGS map

Well-known volcanoes on the list of erupting volcanoes include Erebus (Antarctica) and Erta Ale (Ethiopia, Africa). Erebus, Erta Ale, and Kīlauea are three of the eight volcanoes on Earth that are known to host persistent lava lakes.
Lesser-known volcanoes on the list include Dukono in Indonesia (Oceania), Telica in Nicaragua (Central America), and Suwanosejima in Japan (Asia). Dukono occupies the remote island of Halmahera and has been erupting sporadically since 1933. Telica has been erupting intermittently since April 2021 whereas Suwanosejima has been doing so since October 2004.
Domestically, four volcanoes in the United States make the GVP list of volcanoes in an erupting status, including Kīlauea and three volcanoes in Alaska: Pavlof, on the Alaska Peninsula, has been on the list since August 2021; Great Sitkin, in the central Aleutian Islands, since May 2021, and Semisopochnoi, in the western Aleutian Islands, since February 2021.
So far, this discussion has been human-centric, only considering the volcanoes that we can see. But hidden deep beneath the ocean surface are volcanoes that erupt undetected. Though they account for 75% of Earth's magma production, mid-ocean ridge volcanoes are poorly understood and usually erupt unseen.
Iceland, where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge comes to the surface, offers us a window into this predominantly submarine world. The recent eruption of Fagradalsfjall volcano, from March–September 2021, was a spectacular example of mid-ocean ridge volcanism and one of the rare times when a mid-ocean ridge volcano made the GVP list.
If you're curious to learn more about volcanoes and eruptions on Earth over the past 12,000 years, the GVP hosts a Volcanoes of the Word database that you can explore at https://volcano.si.edu/.

Volcano Activity Updates: Kīlauea volcano is erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert level is at WATCH (https://www.usgs.gov/natural-hazards/volcano-hazards/about-alert-levels). Kīlauea updates are issued daily.
Over the past week, lava has continued to erupt from the western vent within Halemaʻumaʻu crater. All lava is confined within Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Sulfur dioxide emission rates remain elevated and were last measured at approximately 3,900 tonnes per day (t/d) on May 31. Seismicity is elevated but stable, with few earthquakes and ongoing volcanic tremor. Summit tiltmeters showed little ground deformation for most of the past week, though deflation began just before midnight on June 1. For more information on the current eruption of Kīlauea, see https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/recent-eruption.

The feature shown in the photograph is a drainage outlet for the active lava lake of
Halema‘uma‘u. Surface plates from the active lake surface are dragged into
the outlet and churned up. A small standing wave, about 1 meter or 1 yard tall,
is present in the center of the outlet structure. USGS photograph by L. Gallant

Mauna Loa is not erupting and remains at Volcano Alert Level ADVISORY. This alert level does not mean that an eruption is imminent or that progression to an eruption from the current level of unrest is certain. Mauna Loa updates are issued weekly.
This past week, about 30 small-magnitude earthquakes were recorded below the summit and upper elevation flanks of Mauna Loa—the majority of these occurred at shallow depths less than 15 kilometers (9 miles) below sea level. Global Positioning System measurements show low rates of ground deformation over the past week. Gas concentrations and fumarole temperatures at both the summit and at Sulphur Cone on the Southwest Rift Zone have remained stable over the past week. Webcams show no changes to the landscape. For more information on current monitoring of Mauna Loa, see: https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mauna-loa/monitoring.
One earthquake was reported felt in the Hawaiian Islands during the past week: a M2.2 earthquake 3 km (1 mi) SW of Honalo at 5 km (3 mi) depth on May 31 at 12:46 a.m. HST.
HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea's ongoing eruption and Mauna Loa for any signs of increased activity.
Visit HVO's website for past Volcano Watch articles, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa updates, volcano photos, maps, recent earthquake info, and more. Email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.

IN RESPONSE TO RECENT MASS SHOOTINGS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, VOLCANO RESIDENT AND PEACE ADVOCATE Howard Shapiro, released an op-ed. Shapiro is Executive Director of the Performing and Fine Artists for World Peace and employs his music and compositions for his cause. He and his wife Marsha Hee are longtime Volcano residents. He noted that June 3rd was National Gun Violence Awareness Day and said, "Today instead of focusing on anger, I am feeling love and com
passion for all those who have lost loved ones to gun violence." Here is the op-ed.

Volcano's Marsha Hee and Howard Shapiro.
Photo from alohagotsoul.com

My wife Marsha and I were discussing the mass shooting in Uvalde last week. Marsha was an elementary school teacher and I was a substitute teacher for many years. I taught in elementary, middle and high school so these horrible events affect both of us very much. I have been contacting teacher associations across the country sharing with them the idea of having walkouts by teachers for the next school year. These would be held if sensible gun safety legislation is not passed by Congress. These
walkouts could be coordinated with students who want their voices to be heard on this issue.
This could be done one day a week and teachers and students could leave the classroom, but stay on campus. Teachers could also decide to take off using their “sick days”. This could be a national effort having teachers coordinate when these sick days would be.
In 2018 Greta Thunberg protested outside the Swedish parliament asking them to take action against climate change. She would skip school every Friday to protest. Her protests went viral on social media which were spread with the hashtag #FridayForFuture. This became an international protest by young people around the world. I believe this could happen around the issue of commonsense gun safety measures that would save the lives of not only students and teachers, but people shopping at super markets, attending concerts, going to nightclubs, going to movie theaters or worshipping at churches, temples and mosques, these are some of the places where mass shootings have occurred.

The National Rifle Association supported the National Firearms
Act in 1934 requiring registration of certain firearms and restricting
sales of "gangster weapons."

Those of us who speak out on the issue of gun safety legislation do not want to take guns away from legal gun owners. This is propaganda spread by the NRA, gun lobby and a number of members of Congress and other politicians. The Second Amendment allows for the ownership of guns, but I doubt that the founders of our country had the ownership of weapons of war such as AR-15s equipped with high-capacity magazines in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment.
In 1934 Congress passed the National Firearms Act restricting the sale of “gangster weapons” which included machine guns and sawed off shot guns. The NRA supported this action. In 1994 the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, commonly called the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, was signed into law by President Clinton. Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan wrote a letter in May 1994 supporting the bill. After both these acts were passed into law, the government did not confiscate guns from legal gun owners. There was no “slippery slope” that the NRA promotes where if there are any restrictions on gun ownership more restrictions will be enacted until guns are finally confiscated by the government. What utter nonsense. There is an estimated 350-400 million guns in our country today. That is enough guns for every man, woman and child in the United States.
One of simplest things to do that most Americans support would be to raise the age to 21 that a person could buy an assault weapon. There is a database project undertaken by the Washington Post that tracks every act of gunfire at schools in the United States since 1999. Two thirds of these incidents the shooter was found to be18 or less.
I do not belong to any political party. If Democrats were opposing gun safety legislation, I would speak out against them. Sadly, it is Republican elected officials who are blocking meaningful gun safety measures that the vast majority of people in our country support. When will we finally stand up and say “No more Columbine’s, no more Sandy Hook’s, no more Virginia Tech’s, no more Stoneman Douglas’, no more Robb Elementary’s, no more deaths at our schools?” Let your voices be heard!

See The Kaʻū Calendar June Edition at www.kaucalendar.com

See The Kaʻū Calendar June edition at

www.kaucalendar.com,

on newsstands and in the mail.

SEE UPCOMING EVENTS IN KAʻŪ & VOLCANO

at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html

LEARN MORE ABOUT SPONSORS OF THE KAʻŪ CALENDAR

at http://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/05/sponsors-of-kau-calendar.html