Protect Pittsburghers from gun violence

We were devastated to read about the recent gun control hearing (Feb. 13, “Experts, Activists Address City Council on Gun Control”), during which Kim Stolfer, firearm enthusiast and co-founder of Firearms Owners Against Crime, reportedly asked, “Why are we not holding the synagogue responsible for not having security?” This comment broke our hearts. Tree of Life strived to make its synagogue welcoming, as a place of worship should be. Having a guard wouldn’t have helped. It took an entire SWAT team to stop the gunman.

As residents of Squirrel Hill, we submit this letter on the one-year anniversary of the Parkland shooting that killed 14 teenagers like ourselves and three teachers. If the city wants facts and opinions from a true variety of perspectives, it should listen to our generation. As high schoolers, we face the consequences of the absence of commonsense gun laws every day. We go through metal detectors when entering school and lose valuable time to active shooter drills. This is not the world we want to live in: constantly in fear of what might happen, constantly reminded of what has happened. Mr. Stolfer’s vision of one SWAT team per building means that everyone would live like this.

We commend city council members Corey O’Connor and Erika Strassburger for sponsoring the legislation discussed at the hearing. It aims, correctly, to protect Pittsburghers while preserving the right to bear arms appropriate for self-defense. We may be teenagers, but we know it is our duty as citizens to take action to protect each other and to ensure that massacres like Parkland and Tree of Life never happen again. DANIELLA SHEAR Squirrel Hill

This letter was also signed by other members of Bend the Arc: Pittsburgh Teens.