Letters to the Editor | April 11, 2023

I admire Maria Quiñones Sánchez for having the common sense to bow out of a mayoral race requiring obscene amounts of money and for having the integrity to call out a corrupt electoral system. It’s not hard to understand that political offices often are won by the highest bidders, with candidates more beholden to the anonymous billionaires who fund their campaigns through PAC contributions than to their constituents. This syndrome has resulted in incalculable damage to American citizens, transforming our democracy into an oligarchy.

Carol Stein, Philadelphia

Finally, a voice of reason emerges from the Market Street East/Sixers arena morass. The Inquirer article “Comcast Spectacor’s new chair wants the Sixers to stay in South Philly” offers hope that Daniel Hilferty can get the right people around a table to negotiate a deal that gives the Sixers the space they need. But let’s not forget the sorry state of Market Street East. With Sixers part-owner David Adelman and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts in the room, surely the billionaires can dig deep and not only hammer out a Wells Fargo Center fix but also one for the ailing Market Street East area. Private investment paired with public dollars might provide a winnable path. This is where inspired leadership can truly lead. As Hilferty said, “[W]hen we dream as a group, amazing, game-changing things can happen.” Market Street East’s future deserves a group dream; just make certain the Chinatown community is included.

Sydelle Zove, Conshohocken, sydelle.zove@gmail.com

It’s time to stop falsely invoking the Second Amendment as an excuse to allow mass murder. The original voters under the Constitution were male landowners, per the custom at the time. Voting for males 21 and older was clarified by the 14th Amendment (1868); for Black people by the 15th Amendment (1870); for women by the 19th Amendment (1920); and for 18-year-olds by the 26th Amendment (1971). The Second Amendment, ratified in 1791, states, “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The constitutional right to bear arms would logically include the handguns and long guns available in 1791, particularly for use in a well-regulated militia. The Second Amendment is not incompatible with appropriate and sensible gun control. It can be modified, repealed, or not. Clearly, our politicians must protect the safety of the citizens. The right to bear arms does not supersede anyone’s right to life.

Judith Samans-Dunn, Philadelphia

It is outrageous that two Democratic lawmakers in Tennessee were expelled for joining those who were making their voices heard in an attempt to get automatic weapons banned following the school shooting in that state. Everyone in the country should be raising their voices in protest after yet one more horrific mass murder of both teachers and young children using these semiautomatic weapons. It is the Republicans in Tennessee (and elsewhere) who should be expelled for allowing these weapons to continue to be available, making shootings like this one inevitable. In a recent op-ed, former Mayor Ed Rendell wrote about the emotional impact of looking at a photo of one of the 9-year-old victims. All of those in government should be forced to do as he did and look at the faces of these young victims to move them toward taking the action needed to make us all safer and prevent further mass murders.

Marc R. Inver, Lafayette Hill

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