TOPPENISH, Wash. -- A group wanting to rid the city of gang violence called for drastic changes in laws dealing with such crime when it met with state lawmakers during a Tuesday night forum.

A crowd of more than 50 filed into the Toppenish High School performing arts hall, voicing concern about gangs in this rural town of 9,140 people, where drive-by shootings occur at least twice a month.

City Council members, school officials, police and officials with the state Department of Social and Health Services also attended.

Having state lawmakers along with officials from various agencies attend shows the group, Community Safety Network, is gaining traction, said group leader Simon Sampson.

"It's coming together," he said. "We just need to keep getting people involved."

Gang violence last Sunday left a 20-year-old man injured in a drive-by shooting in the 500 block of East First Avenue. And last month, gang members fired a dozen shots into an upstairs apartment on F Street, striking a pregnant woman twice in the torso. Her injuries were not life-threatening and her unborn child was not struck.

In March, a drive-by shooting near where the railroad tracks intersect with Buena Way left two young men dead.

Police have documented more than 250 gang members in the city on the Yakama reservation, but many of them are from other areas.

Group members handed state Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, and state Rep. Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, a list of proposed laws clamping down on gang violence.

State Rep. David Taylor, R-Moxee, was invited but didn't show for reasons not immediately available.

Proposed laws range from treating gang houses like drug houses, subject to seizure and forfeiture, to tougher curfew laws, a minimum five-year sentence for anyone involved in a drive-by shooting and a minimum life sentence for anyone involved in a gang shooting that claims a life.

"It's pretty extensive," Honeyford said of the list of proposals. "But with the support of Toppenish citizens and citizens in other communities, I think we can get some of it done."

Dialog between residents, officials and lawmakers ranged from protecting witnesses to forming Block Watch groups and seeking funds for gang prevention programs.

Franciso Maltos recently formed a Block Watch group on F Street on the east side of town after the pregnant woman who lives across the street was shot.

Maltos told how he began getting residents together at his home for meetings and a barbecue to form the Block Watch.

"I think that we as citizens, we need to contribute to our community and not take away from it," he said. "I think the No. 1 way we can contribute to our community is to be a good parent."

Mayor Loren Belton said he attended one of the meetings at Maltos' house and learned the people living just houses apart didn't know one another.

"We don't even know our neighbors anymore," Sampson added.

Group members are now talking about forming alliances with similar groups in Yakima and Sunnyside.

"The reality is if we do something together, then we can make something happen," Sampson said.