JACKSON, Wyo. — During the Regular Town Council Meeting on Monday, June 3, Mayor Hailey Morton Levinson declared Friday, June 7 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and encouraged all community members to support efforts to prevent gun violence.
The day, also referred to as Wear Orange Day, is nationally observed on the first Friday in June every year. The Wear Orange campaign began on June 2, 2015, in commemoration of the life of Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago.
In 2013, 15 year old Pendleton was standing under a park pavilion when a car pulled up and shot at her and her friends. Pendleton’s childhood friends started wearing orange to remember her. The color orange was chosen because hunters wear it to signal to others not to shoot, according to Wear Orange.
According to the Town’s declaration, in 2023, Wyoming had the fifth-highest total of gun-related deaths in the United States.
The Town also shared the following gun death statistics:
- Approximately 117 Americans are killed by gun violence every day in the United States.
- In 2022, 1,674 children died from gun violence.
- As of May 6, 2024, there have been over 140 mass shootings, and over 15,000 people have been injured or killed this year, including almost 1,500 teens and over 250 children.
In observance of this national day, the Town of Jackson renewed its commitment to take necessary steps to reduce gun violence.
