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Editor, Asbury Park Sun,

In recent months we have had demonstrations and public unrest over the deaths of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Renisha McBride, Jordan Davis and Eric Garner. All of the victims were African American. Their killers were not black — so much for black on black crime. Five were killed by gunfire and Garner by physical assault.

So far Michael Dunn, 47, who killed Davis over the playing of loud music and Theodore Wafer, 54, who shot McBride in the face when she came on his porch after a car accident have been convicted. George Zimmerman walked, as we well know.

Justice in the other cases neither has been swift nor fair. So how do we keep people from being shot to death? Should we eliminate guns completely? We have gun buybacks all the time. But it seems as we disarm the population, African Americans keep getting killed by “law abiding citizens” and the law.

The overwhelming majority of police officers are great people. Not good people but great people. They put their lives on the line each day for public safety.

But I feel that some should not be allowed to carry a gun. Those that are neither emotionally nor socially qualified to carry a gun. Some are afraid and others carry prejudices either taught or ingrained by past experiences.

Case in point: Years ago an Asbury Park police officer killed our dog in our back yard in front of my wife, my daughter, a female tenant and her daughter. Our dog was holding down a stray Rottweiler who came in our yard. The emotional effect was devastating to all of us. Did he wait for me to get home from the gym as my wife requested? No he did not. Did he call animal control? Was the public safety at risk? In a back yard with a fence, I don’t think so. Yet he still walks the streets of Asbury Park.

The recent shooting in Asbury Park the officers involved showed professionalism, restraint and compassion for the victim. As I said, some officers are qualified and some are not.

So do we follow the National Rifle Association and give everyone a gun? Or do we take guns away from everyone? Yes, even the police. A retired Asbury Park police officer told me that the thing he was proudest of was that he never used his gun in over 30 years of service. He grew up in Asbury and he’s white.

Guns in the hands of mean or unstable people have damaged us enough. Civil rights suffered with the loss of Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and John and Robert Kennedy. Music suffered with the loss of Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Tupac and Biggie Smalls.

Could it happen in Asbury Park? Until we hear the cries of the poor and disenfranchised the possibility exists. Until we address the sickness and fears of those in power, it can happen.

— Daniel A. Harris III, Asbury Park

[This letter represents the opinion of its writer and is not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor to news@asburyparksun.com for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here.]

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