I see those claims about "gangs" being the source of gun violence as a racist dog whistle, like "It's the minorities with guns you have to worry about, not US! Control their guns, not ours."

Or do they include any gang member that has committed homicide during the course of a crime?

carjacking ,armed robbery , home invasion etc...

And about half of homicide victims are black.

of black to white perpetrators as percentage of population is overwhelming though (7x). About half the victims are black out of a population of 14%, but over 95% of those homicides are blacks killing other blacks.

The cases which attract the most attention on this board are those where whites kill blacks usually with some obvious example of racial injustice (such as not charging someone who shoots an unarmed person until pressure is brought to bare).

The recent mistrial may have been race related, but it could have also stemmed from it being an overcharge of the crime. Since Murder 1 was on the table, some jurors refused to compromise.

Some high profile cases that you would expect murder convictions do end in jury deadlock mistrials. Here is an example of a horrible torture-murder that ended in a mistral in the first case.

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2012-02-23/story/second-defendant-putnam-teachers-christmas-killing-gets-life

for some quick cash to get your next fix. Skin color of the junkie isn't an object here, either. I know wayyyy too many white people, especially where I live, who are strung out on meth and prescription pills and think nothing of stealing, breaking into houses, robbing people at gunpoint, and shooting them, just for their money, or for pills a person gets legitimately through pain management clinics.

Just my .02 cents worth...

Ghost