To bring attention to the issue of gun violence, Americans are encouraged to wear orange on June 2^nd 

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – At least sixteen U.S. Senators and eleven U.S. Representatives joined together to introduce a resolution in the House & Senate establishing June 2^nd as “National Gun Violence Awareness Day” and designating June as “National Gun Violence Awareness Month.”  Every day in America, an average of 297 men, women and children are shot, 91 of them fatally.  Establishing a day to bring attention to the issue of gun violence honors the thousands of Americans who are victims of gun violence every year, including Hadiya Pendleton who was shot and killed in Chicago, Illinois on January 29, 2013. 

The resolution sponsored by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) in the Senate and U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL) in the House also urges citizens and community leaders to concentrate heightened attention on gun violence during June, when gun violence typically spikes at the start of the summer months, and to work together to make our communities safer from this violence. 

Senators cosponsoring the resolution include: U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Edward Markey (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Al Franken (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Representatives cosponsoring the resolution include: U.S. Representatives Hakeem Jeffries (NY), Charles B. Rangel (NY), Mike Thompson (CA), Brenda Lawrence (MI), Joyce Beatty (OH), Tammy Duckworth (IL), Alcee Hastings (FL), Barbara Lee (CA), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ) and Marcia Fudge (OH).

Gun violence is an issue that affects communities in every state across the country.  Each year more than 32,000 people in America are killed and 80,000 are injured by gunfire.  On June 2, 2016, people across the nation will join together in the second annual “National Gun Violence Awareness Day” and will wear the color orange to bring attention to the issue of gun violence.