We are not anti-gun; we value life | Opinion Updated Feb 13, 2021; The Rev. Sandra L. Strauss On an extremely hot summer evening in 2017, the deafening sound of gunshots and the sound of squealing wheels jolted my husband and I out of what had been a peaceful evening at home. We ran to the door to see a black SUV speeding away as children screamed on the city playground across the street. Hearing gunshots in the distance had been a disconcerting part of my life since moving to uptown Harrisburg in late 1996, but it never happened so close to home. The shooter, firing from a vehicle passing in front of our house, emptied an entire clip in the direction of a crowded basketball court. Miraculously only one youth was hit, a non-life-threatening injury to his lower leg. The cars—dented and windows shattered from bullets—probably prevented more injuries to those on the court, damage that might not have been so easily repaired.