"It's nothing you can do. It's never gonna change, that's the way life is in Philadelphia."- A.J., Masterman High School student who was attacked.

    I am lobbying to change the amount of violence in the Philadelphia community.  I am interested in trying to change the way that violent events in Philadelphia are handled. There isn’t many things being done to reduce violence in Philadelphia, besides the occasional events to turn in illegal or old guns for money. These events normally receive a positive turnout. There should be more events like this more often. Innocent children lives are cut too short due to guns being in the hands of the wrong people and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We need more things for the youth to do and more events for them o be a part of that your average teenager in Philadelphia would enjoy. To solve violence in Philadelphia, it would take a very long time simply because such a drastic change could not happen over night. I would like to attempt to remove guns from the streets of Philadelphia. Right now my solution is undecided.

 

    As a teenager growing up in south west Philadelphia. I have lost several friends due to violence. Even though some of the deaths don’t effect me directly it is still devastating. There was an article discussing teen deaths due to violence in Philadelphia.The rate of teen deaths in Philadelphia is on a rise and there isn’t enough being done at the city level.

The teen violence is getting out of control in December there was an attack on Asian teens at South Philadelphia high and nothing was being done about it several stories were written about this issue.

Who is Helping?

    There are several supporters but it still seems like there isn’t enough being done. There is only so much council members who are mentioned in this article can do. There are several organizatons assisting . One organization was started and funded by a councilman Dwight Evans, the  is a organization which I was a member of which is A blue Print for A Safer Philadelphia. This anti- violence organization mission states “The Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia Initiative is a 10-year community-based violence prevention initiative with the goal of eliminating all youth homicide in Philadelphia by the year 2016. State Representative Dwight Evans created The "Blueprint" by securing $16 million in state funding and bringing a number of key partners to this historic effort.”

Violence In Philadelphia Statistics

Pending Legislation On Violence

The state supreme court ruled on Philadelphia's gun ordinances on June 11, 2010.
These laws basically state:

• The city is allowed to force its citizens to report a lost or stolen gun within 24 hours.
• Police are allowed to seize guns from those “considered to pose a risk to themselves or others.”
• Those subject to a protection-from-abuse order may not own a firearm within the city.
• Need to purchase more than one gun a month then you can.