Letters: Lawmakers must put an end to gun violence

ISSUE | GUN VIOLENCE

Lawmakers must stop the shootings

We in the Philadelphia area do not need to wait for terrorists to infiltrate our city. We are managing, with guns, to kill each other ("9 shot on a deadly Tuesday in Phila.," Thursday).

When a 2-year-old can pick up a loaded gun and shoot himself in a Bucks County home ("Police: Toddler shoots self with gun, dies," Tuesday), and a pregnant woman can be critically wounded on a Kensington street in broad daylight ("Pregnant woman, 2 others shot," Wednesday), it is time for lawmakers to reevaluate the hold that the NRA has on them.

Just on Tuesday in the city:

The cousin of rapper Meek Mill was killed in a drive-by shooting outside a takeout restaurant in South Philadelphia, and a 27-year-old man with him was seriously wounded.

A 32-year-old Fairhill man was on his mobile phone in his neighborhood when a gunman walked up and fatally shot him.

A 24-year-old Southwest Philadelphia man was found shot in the head in his neighborhood and pronounced dead at the hospital.

We keep talking about gun control, but what will it take to consider the lives of our people more important than the votes of leaders backed by the NRA?

|Gloria Gelman, Philadelphia

Constitution should protect us

Gabrielle Hill Carter was 8 years old when she died last month, another innocent victim of gun violence, another martyr to the NRA ("Camden girl, 8, shot in head, dies,"

Aug. 27).

In the United States, we believe that the foundation of our laws, the Constitution, keeps us safe. How does the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms keep us safe? We see over and over and over again that our love for guns is dysfunctional and makes us less - not more - safe.

This precious child had a right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Her rights have been taken away from her.

It is time for us to stand up, and speak up, and vote.

|Sheryl Kalick, Philadelphia