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National Gun Violence Awareness Day: The Town Hall Proclamation

Johnathan Perloe, showing a sign about the 1,774 gun deaths in America which had occurred two months after the Newtown shooting in 2012.

By Maddy Rozmus

June 2nd marked National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and a number of residents gathered at Town Hall to not only commemorate those who have been victims of gun violence, but also to emphasize the town’s dedication towards preventing gun violence.

First selectman Fred Camillo began the proclamation, explaining the importance of violence prevention for a “safe, healthy, hopeful, and free community.” Furthermore, Camillo emphasized a staggering statistic – there were 238 gun deaths in the state of Connecticut throughout the year of 2021 – before going on to explain the reason for wearing orange on National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

After First Selectman Camillo’s speech, director of communications for Connecticut Against Gun Violence Jonathan Perloe spoke, explaining the importance of community when it comes to tackling this issue. Perloe also held up a sign he made about the 1,774 gun deaths in America which had occurred in only the two months after the Newtown shooting in 2012. If he had written the sign now eleven years later, he stated, the number on his sign would read 400,000. Perloe also emphasized that he and First Selectman Camillo are not anti-gun, but anti-gun violence.

The proclamation ended with Perloe urging the community to support the pending bill in the state Senate which includes more “safe-storage requirements such as mandatory trigger locks during gun sales,” “limiting permit holders to purchasing no more than three weapons a month; and (restricting) the sale of body armor to most residents.”

After the tragic Sandy Hook shooting, Connecticut has established a number of gun safety laws which are provisional for preventing gun violence. One of the pieces of legislation that the state has passed is a wide ban on military-style weapons; background checks are also mandatory for Connecticut citizens who wish to buy a weapon. In 2020, the CDC reported that Connecticut was ranked sixth amongst all states in fewest gun deaths. Still, wearing orange and recognizing National Gun Violence Awareness Day helps create a greater community that is dedicated to less gun violence overall.

The reason for wearing orange comes from a tragic story: In Chicago’s Kenwood neighborhood, 15 year old Hadiya Pendelton was shot in the back by gang members while standing under a pavilion in Harsh Park. This was only a week after she participated in President Obama’s second inaugural parade. Orange was the color that Hadiya’s friends chose to commemorate her because it is the color hunters wear to protect themselves. Now, the color orange is a major part of the movement against gun violence.

WearOrange is now an organization that has been running for 9 years having begun on June 2, 2015 which is what would have been Hadiya’s 18th birthday, and is now National Gun Violence Awareness Day. On National Gun Violence Awareness Day and that following weekend, known as WearOrange weekend (June 2-4 this year), thousands of people around the country show their commitment to reducing gun violence by wearing orange.

To learn more about Connecticut Against Gun Violence and WearOrange visit https://cagv.org/ and https://wearorange.org/

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