Letters to the Editor | Dec. 26, 2025

In response to the Dec. 14 mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Australia, right-wing voices in the U.S. have quickly moved to point to this tragedy as evidence that gun control does not work. This is not only a disgusting lie, but also a claim that is so divorced from reality it would be laughable were its consequences not so dire.

According to the Associated Press, since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, which saw Australia implement sweeping gun control laws, that nation has experienced a total of six mass shootings. According to the Gun Violence Archive, the U.S. had twice that number in December 2025 alone.

This does not have to be our reality. We do not have to continue losing members of our communities to gun violence. Gun control works, and while our legislators should have passed commonsense gun control decades ago, the least they can do is pass it now.

Katherine Roberts, Philadelphia

The United States was founded on the idea that individual rights must be protected from usurpation. Those rights, rooted in natural law and expressed through law and custom, were never meant to survive on principle alone. They endure only when citizens actively understand and defend them. History shows that rights are rarely taken outright; more often, they are lost through neglect.

A free society depends on the recognition that liberty is shared. In a nation defined by difference, coexistence is not optional, and respect is not sentimental — it is structural. When Americans ignore one another or reduce differences to something threatening, the civic bonds that hold the country together begin to weaken. Division does not start with conflict; it begins when responsibility is abandoned.

The greater danger emerges when ignorance gains influence and truth is treated as negotiable. In such moments, freedom is not abolished but rebranded — used to justify exclusion, distortion, and power without accountability. Institutions remain standing, but their purpose thins. Law continues, but its moral authority erodes.

This is the warning worth repeating: Rights lost through complacency are not easily recovered through outrage. Self-government depends not only on laws and elections, but on an informed and engaged citizenry. When truth yields to convenience and civic duty gives way to faction, the damage is no longer political — it becomes foundational.

Joel Alan Eisenberg, Warminster

The city is expecting people from New Jersey to come see the Mummers Parade, as well as visitors during the 2026 celebration. It’s really a shame how they will be greeted when they come up from the 15th Street PATCO station, because the elevator never works, and the steps are falling apart.

I have complained many times over the last few years. PATCO tells me it’s the city’s responsibility once you get past the turnstile. I’ve complained to the city, to the visitors bureau, to the mayor’s office. When I finally got a response, they told me to complain to SEPTA. When I told them it is not a SEPTA station, I never heard from them again. How can they not know this? I can’t believe I’m the only one who ever told them about this. I know the city has bigger problems, but this is something that can be easily fixed if they want people to come in to spend money in the city.

Fradele Feld, Cherry Hill

I read with interest the article about the Center City Residents Association ceasing its contract with the Center City District to clean sidewalks in its own catchment area.

In the Graduate Hospital part of the city, we struggle with similar issues, and have in the past worked with various groups to help us keep the sidewalks clean. These groups are helpful and employ local workers.

The one missing ingredient is that of personal responsibility: If every homeowner, landlord (those who rent out their residential properties), and business simply cleaned up their own public space on a daily basis, the city would be immensely cleaner.

It would be lovely if the city would champion this notion of personal and shared responsibility — it would reap great benefits and would cost nothing. A real win-win. It would also require the city to expand its own enforcement in addition to policing antidumping measures and the like. As a physician, I can tell you that this is also a public health issue, and not just one of aesthetics.

David Share, chair, South of South Neighborhood Association Clean and Green Committee

As we approach our 250th birthday as a nation, I wonder what the founders would think of the current state of affairs.

They would be alarmed at the power wielded by our president. They would be even more concerned about how inept the people’s branch, Congress, is. The lack of bipartisanship is causing the imbalance of power between the branches of government. Without Congress doing its job, someone else has to do what needs to be done.

The founders would feel like America is right back where it was before the American Revolution, i.e., taxation without representation.

A national movement should be organized to protest how we’re paying taxes through the nose and not getting representation from our elected representatives. The time is now. Start by marching on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Brian Reilly, Medford

I believe in the adage, ”It bears repeating.” When you apply that to Donald Trump, I can understand why people are interested in reading many different accounts of his depraved thirst for power and his ruthless attempts to get it. However, reading those details repeated over and over again ad infinitum will not necessarily tell me how to fight Trump.

Your editorial was an accurate and direct analysis of the Jeffrey Epstein files release, and we see once again the deceptions in which Trump engages.

The burning question in my mind is, after the recording of all his lies, over 30,000, what do we do about it?

We can’t just moan and complain and write editorials for the next three years. We need to do something more effective.

I personally think we need to have more “No Kings” protests and big demonstrations, as we had against the Vietnam War.

Judy Rubin, Philadelphia

As I read the recent Associated Press article about Vice President JD Vance’s recent speech, in which he refused to denounce bigots in the Republican Party, I couldn’t help comparing Vance’s positions with former Washington Post journalist Jennifer Rubin’s recent Substack post, “Remember the Unsung Resistance Fighters.” While Vance states outright his desire for a country in which white supremacy guided by Christian nationalism rules, Rubin asks us to acknowledge those of us who continue to stand in opposition, supporting instead the rule of law and the Constitution of the United States of America.

Someday, Trump will be gone from office. To all the Republican government officials — including the U.S. Supreme Court — your voting record will remain. And with that voting record, so, too, will your dishonor.

Cindy Maguire, Merion Station

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