Sent to all Council members and Mayor
Dear Council Persons.
I have recently become aware of councilman Chang’s introduction of Resolution 13-280 and wish to state this households ( 4 votes) disapproval of the resolution as well as inform you of the inaccuracies of the information he has provided as a basis for this resolution.
Though I do not have time to correct nor argue each of his fabrications, I will do so upon what I feel are the most pertinent and blatant of what I can only assume are his assumptions as I can find no evidence to support them.
violence involving firearms in the United States presents a persistent societal ill that results in approximately 100,000 victims annually, including over 30,000 deaths
The US Department of Justice reports that approximately 60% (6 out of 10 or) of all adult firearm deaths are by suicide, 61% more than deaths by homicide nationally.
In 2010, 358 murders were reported (NATIONALLY) involving a rifle
The United States Supreme Court has affirmed once and for all that Americans have a right to keep and bear arms.
Yet the this very right “to keep and bear arms” (CCW) is denied in Hawaii
However, as conservative justice Antonin Scalia outlined, the District of Columbia v. Heller decision does not prohibit laws forbidding firearms in places such as schools or regulation of unusually dangerous weapons, nor does it restrict laws prohibiting felons and the mentally ill from carrying guns
The statement is relative to reasonable existing law and has no bearing on his resolution.
unlike most states, Hawaii requires every firearm to be registered, requires every purchaser of a firearm to obtain a license after a background check, and bans assault pistols and large capacity ammunition magazines that can be used with assault pistols;
Again, this is something that already exists and has no relevance to the resolution.
Hawaii has the lowest rate of gun deaths among the states, but 485 people died in Hawaii between 1999 and 2010 from gun violence
Data from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports (1995 -2012) for the State of Hawaii states a t total of firearm murders from 1999 through 2010 is 98.
Total firearm murders in Hawaii from 1995 to 2012 (18 years) is 164.
So according to his total of 485, the remaining 387 (485-98=387) deaths he mentions must be attributed to suicides (60% or 232 based upon DOJ Statistics) leaving the remaining 154 as justifiable homicides, LEO activities?
Changs choice of start and stop dates (1995 -2012), is also convenient to his cry.
“Hawaii firearms registrations shot up more than 70 percent in 2012, while gun violence continued a four-year decline, according to a new state Department of the Attorney General report.
"Firearm-related homicides dropped from 18,253 homicides in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011," according to a report by the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics,
In Hawaii 2011 and 2012 there were a total of 20 murders, 4 of which involved fire arms.
stronger laws would lead to a lower number of deaths resulting from gun violence
The above reports by US DOJ and FBI prove this to be wrong
reasonable restrictions on possession and use of firearms are continually stymied by the gun lobby despite recurring mass shootings across the country and a national consensus to reign in the rampant proliferation of guns
Not all of these restrictions are “reasonable” and it is not just the Gun Lobby, it is “WE THE PEOPLE“.
the United States Congress appears to be unable to agree on any legislation that would address gun violence issues
Congress is agreeing with “WE THE PEOPLE“.
BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City and County of Honolulu that it urges the United States Congress to enact legislation necessary to implement President Barack Obama’s “Now is the Time” plan to reduce gun violence
There are almost as many gun permits/registrations in Hawaii as there are residents and our political representatives who vote to approve this resolution will surely be aware of that fact come election time.
To vote yes on this resolution may put you in the “60%” mentioned above politically .
Regards,