Letters: What gives with gun protesters?

BEING A SOUTH Philly resident for more than 40 years and being a big supporter of the quality of life, I am baffled at Wednesday's front page story, "Disguntinued."

I support the residents who are protesting the sale of play guns from a corner store to minors. I grew up in Point Breeze and I witnessed how the crime decayed a once great neighborhood. But what I am confused about is the timing and the location of the protest. It's great that 50 to 100 protesters came out in the sweltering heat, some carrying lettered signs, some chanting "Stop selling BB guns." This definitely made an impact on the store's business and the owner's pocket.

But here's my question: Where were all these protesters when there was a fatal shooting over drugs less than a half-mile away in the same neighborhood, a shooting where innocent people play, walk and live? Where were the lettered signs? I didn't hear any chants saying, "Stop selling drugs," or "Stop shooting up our neighborhood." It wasn't even hot out.

What gives? I would love to see 50 to 100 protesters standing on one of the many drug corners that have destroyed the Point Breeze section of Philadelphia, trying to put a dent in the problem that already exists. But they would rather protest the sale of fake BB guns at the local delicatessen.

The article also mentions the deaths of a black man in Cincinnati related to a fake BB gun, and the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. All these were tragic incidents and all different, but you failed to mention the many fatal shootings in Point Breeze or Grays Ferry that have happened in the last three months - all were drug related.

I applaud the group of protesters for the message they are trying to promote, and I am aware that the councilman can only do so much with the residents and the city's services (at least he tries), but it seems wrongheaded to protest the store that sells fake BB guns to a school-age child who accidently might shoot another kid in the eye, but ignore the drug corner and the dealer who has the potential to put a real gun in the hands of the same school-age boy with the intent to really shoot and kill someone.

Maybe it's just me.

Andrew J. Dankanich

Philadelphia

No honor for Jefferson

SEPTA cannot name a Philadelphia train station after a slave master. This naming-rights deal will have to be reversed. This is a horribly wrong choice. The man was a violent slave master who supported laws that killed people, tore families apart, took away their personal freedom and did all this to enrich himself and maintain his power, status and position in Virginia.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, and shame on the leaders of SEPTA.

Tim Kearney

Philadelphia

Dilworth, not schools?

It took nearly two years and $55 million to build, and now Dilworth Park has opened to the public. The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place last week, followed by several days of opening festivities.

The brochure boasts that Dilworth Park is "the city's lively new centerpiece." The park includes a stage, cafe, computer-programmable fountain, ice-skating rink and access to SEPTA lines (which is, honestly, the most interesting to me), and so much more.

With Philadelphia public schools set to open next week, just barely, one question I'm dying to have answered is: Where in the hell is all this money coming from? Everywhere I look, something is being built. You can hardly get through Center City or University City because of all the construction that is going on, yet the city doesn't have the resources to properly educate these children.

And, honestly, I'm starting to think that's exactly how they want it to be.

Zeena Garnett

Philadelphia

Real issues, not bikes

Given the plethora of legitimate, real-world issues, concerns and problems that Philadelphia taxpayers understand plague this city daily, I was surprised that your paper devoted an entire page to the stresses that a bike enthusiast experiences in his daily travels to and fro.

Whether it be a broken school system, public corruption, misguided public policy that discourages job growth, elected officials more concerned with their next election, anti-business taxes or crime, there are much more important issues our citizens face each day in this city. As an elected committeeman, I watched this spring as hardworking, tax-paying neighbors, concerned with a long-neglected pothole that was damaging tires, pooled their hard-earned money to make temporary repairs until the city was able to finally make permanent repairs to the hole.

As sympathetic as one might be to the plight of Philadelphia's bike community, most Philadelphia taxpayers know and understand that there are real problems that must be resolved first in a city wanting to be known as world-class.

Joe Eastman

39th Ward-33rd Division