More Murders Than Chicago?
Increasing Gun Violence in Philly
Residents of the Philadelphia area are concerned about their safety and the recent increase in gun violence over the last year. Though Philadelphia residents have been used to hearing or seeing gun violence, this huge jump in gun violence has many people concerned, mainly students.
Zahara Simmons, a sophomore at Carver, thinks that “this is a terrible and scary phenomenon going on in Philadelphia.”
"I think the recent uprising in gun violence in Philadelphia is the result of COVID-19," Simmons said. "It’s kind of like a snowball effect, once something gets rolling, it never stops.”
People usually believe that once the cold weather sets, the crime will eventually die down some but this may not be the case. Carver student, Braylon Edmondson, thinks otherwise.
“The cause of recent gun violence could possibly be the shortage of necessary materials and the greed of others," Edmonson said. "We should leave the weapon possession to the police or to people of authority.”
Even if the city was more vigilant on how they maintain the violence, the question on almost everyone’s mind is where do these people keep getting their weapons from?
“Children are definitely getting their guns from their parents,” Simmons said. “No child should have access to a gun. If a parent has a gun it needs to be put away. Anything that happens all the responsibility is on that parent.”
Though gun violence affects the city as a whole, each community reacts differently. I asked the question, “How would the individuals of each community come to combat the gun violence in their neighborhoods?”
“Get people help. Get them off the streets. Just them jobs, something productive to do,” Zahara says. “Allow them the chance to dream and have goals. Offer a loving hand with support.” She thinks that “the best way to fight fire isn’t with fire.” “Show compassion.” Braylon provides a more blunt answer by stating “we can combat growing gun violence by simply taking them out of stores.”
Being surrounded by gun violence might leave you numb to hearing about it. When it affects someone you know, then you get a glimpse of how serious the problem really is. I posed an inquiry to Braylon to see if any of his family members have been affected by gun violence.
“I only know of one person that was a victim of gun violence, he didn’t suffer much, but it was still scary to see him in the hospital.” Braylon’s uncle had been shot in the leg.
I asked my final question which was, “What are your overall feelings when gun violence is involved?”
“Every time I see the news or the articles it hurts each time. Every time I see an innocent person even children gunned down for just simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time it hurts. Gun violence is affecting everyone. The community, the environment.”