Mayor Mignogna discusses the upcoming event that remembers all victims and survivors of gun violence.
Voorhees Township is joining thousands of municipalities across the country recognizing the first Friday in June as National Gun Violence Awareness Day — a day to honor and remember all the victims and survivors of gun violence and to recognize more must be done to reduce gun violence.
People across the country will be wearing orange on Friday, June 1, which marks the fourth National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
Every day, 96 Americans are killed by gun violence with more than 30,000 firearm fatalities each year and more than 80,000 nonfatal injuries requiring emergency medical care or hospitalization. After car accidents, gun violence is the second leading cause of death for people under the age of 20. About two kids under the age of 14 are killed each week in accidental shootings.
Gun Violence Awareness Day is not an anti-gun or pro-gun movement. In our country, we have the right to bear arms, but we also have the responsibility to bear arms safely. Support for the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns away from dangerous people. This day is about recognizing that there is a gun violence problem in our country and that more can be done to save lives from gun violence.
The idea of National Gun Violence Awareness Day was inspired following the death of Hadiya Pendleton, a teenager who was shot and killed on January 29, 2013 in Chicago — just one week after she performed with her high school marching band at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. Her friends and classmates chose to commemorate her life by wearing orange, because hunters wear orange in the woods to protect themselves and others from gunfire. Orange is the color that symbolizes the value of human life.
Voorhees Township emergency responders will be wearing orange ribbons on Friday, June 1 to show support in the effort to reduce gun violence and encourage responsible gun ownership.
