Is fitness a factor in police shootings?

Police officers deal with mentally ill, violent and angry people every day. It’s a hard job to do correctly and safely. But the latest shootings have me wondering if a change that might help lies in improving fitness requirements.

Being fit enough to subdue or run down a suspect might reduce use of guns in making arrests. It may surprise people to learn that among firefighters, police and lifeguards, only Hawaii’s lifeguards are required to pass annual fitness test requirements as a condition of ongoing employment. The military has basic fitness standards for all members.

As first responders whose duties require physical skills, I think now is the time to ask police (and fire) unions to support standards and implement a basic annual fitness test.

Donna L. Ching

Honolulu

Firearms registration appointments delayed

Hawaii Revised Statutes 134-3 states that after residents of Hawaii acquire a firearm, they must register it within five days.

You cannot register your firearm without making an appointment online. The website says, “If the appointment calendar is not visible, all of our appointments in the next 90-days are booked.” Applicants are notified to keep trying.

Huh? A phone number is available, and a nice man tries to help you optimize your endless attempts to get an appointment.

The law is the law. Or is it just there for convenience of the state? Why are we citizens being abused like this? They blame you and hold you accountable for the inability of the state to provide required lawful services? Good grief!

Charles (Toby) Rushforth

Kaneohe

Maryland can take over part of Washington, D.C.

The District of Columbia consisted of lands ceded to the federal government by Virginia and Maryland. Congress returned the Virginia land in 1847.

If the movement to make the District of Columbia a state is actually motivated by a desire to give its citizens representation in Congress and the sacred right to vote, that can be done by returning its land to Maryland, except for the White House, the Capitol and nearby federal facilities and monuments.

Of course, if Maryland doesn’t want it back, that will tell us a lot about Washington, D.C.

Donald H. Carvin

Kahala

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