Big error in letter
Big error in letter
Mr. Takuda’s letter of July 16 contains a serious error concerning the number of black men killed by police in 2015. The Guardian article does not report that 1,134 black men were killed by police but that 1,134 people were killed by police in 2015. This number includes whites, Hispanics, women and others. The number also includes all people killed by any circumstance, not just by gun.
A better source of data is from the Washington Post, which reports that of 990 people shot dead by police in 2015, 494 were white, 258 black, 172 Hispanic, 38 other, and 28 unknown.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings/?tid=a_inl
Although the percentages seem disproportionate related to the population as a whole, the disproportionate involvement in serious crime must be taken into account. I won’t detail that in this letter but the data is available online for anyone interested.
As to Mr Shirley’s letter, one must remember that the Constitution does not grant the right to keep and bear arms, that right is god given. The Second Amendment states “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Like the other amendments in the Bill of Rights, it says what government can’t do.
Dan Gerhart
Holualoa