72°
"I'm asking our community to join together by wearing orange on June 2 to honor the lives lost and to pledge to do what they can to prevent the gun violence that is killing 33,000 Americans every year," said Shira Tarantino, Stamford resident and ENOUGH Campaign board member.
Annually, June is the deadliest month for gun violence. This year, after an increase in local gun violence, the City of Stamford will be kicking off #WearOrange activities to honor victims and survivors with a news conference at 9:30 a.m. at Stamford Police headquarters to proclaim June 2 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day. The event is open to the public.
Attendees will include U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Stamford Mayor David Martin, Assistant Police Chief Tom Wuennemann, Michael Hyman of Chester Addison Community Center, and other leaders.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, as of May 29, there have been 25,067 total incidents of U.S. gun violence so far in 2017 — an average of 168.2 per day.
But Tarantino is hopeful: "Gun violence is a preventable public health epidemic, and with continued advocacy, voter involvement, and persistence, ending these senseless tragedies is on the horizon."
Every day 93 Americans are killed by guns, while more than twice that many are injured. In total, more than 500,000 people have been killed or injured by guns since the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.
"In our own community of Stamford, gun violence incidents have risen over the past year. Lowering the number who are killed or injured can be done by supporting common-sense gun laws and gun sense practices such as asking if there's a gun in the homes where children visit friends," the ENOUGH Campaign said in a statement.
The #WearOrange campaign was inspired by friends of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago student killed by gunfire, who decided to honor her life by wearing orange on her birthday, June 2. Orange is the color hunters wear to protect themselves. This year, Hadiya would have turned 20.
For more information, visit www.theENOUGHcampaign.com.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Stamford and receive free news updates.
