Eighth Annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange Campaign to Begin Tomorrow as Part of Nationwide Effort Calling For Action to Prevent Gun Violence

Gun Safety Advocates, Survivors, Elected Leaders and More to Gather At More Than 350 Events In Cities Around the Country to Honor Victims and Survivors of Gun Violence and to Tell Lawmakers: Don’t Look Away from our Country’s Gun Violence Crisis, We Need Action Now; “#WearOrange” Campaign Demands an End to the Crisis

Large Events Taking Place in New York City, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Austin; Contact [email protected] for more information

WASHINGTON – Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund today announced that Friday, June 3 will mark National Gun Violence Awareness Day and mark the beginning of Wear Orange weekend. This year, people from across the country will join together and wear orange to honor victims and survivors of gun violence, demand a future free from gun violence and call on the U.S. Senate to take action. So far, there are more than 350 #WearOrange events scheduled in cities across the country, featuring Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers, other gun safety advocates, elected leaders, community partners and more who will gather to honor the lives of those affected by gun violence, connect people with ways they can help to end gun violence in their communities, and call on lawmakers to take meaningful action to combat gun violence. 

In addition to events, a coalition of cultural influencers, elected officials, corporate brands, nonprofit partner organizations and a series of buildings and landmarks will join advocates to honor the eighth Annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Members of the coalition, as well as thousands of volunteers across the country, will take action throughout Wear Orange Weekend, June 3-5, dedicated to honoring the lives taken and forever changed by gun violence, and demanding action to stop the crisis. 

“America’s gun violence crisis is all the more tragic because we know the common sense steps our leaders could take to stop the bloodshed,” said John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety. “This year, we Wear Orange in honor of the millions of Americans whose lives have been shattered by gun violence, and we recommit ourselves to the fight for a safer future.”

“Gun violence is an uniquely American epidemic that has impacted over half Americans and continues to take the lives of over 110 people in this country every single day and we honor them by wearing orange and taking action,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “It gives me so much hope and encouragement to see people in every corner of this country getting off the sidelines, channeling their grief into action and making their voices heard.”

“Whether it’s at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, while grocery shopping at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, or at a park in Chicago, Illinois, we all need and deserve protection from gun violence,” said Nza-Ari Khepra, co-founder of Project Orange Tree and the Wear Orange Campaign. “We did not protect Hadiya and the many others whose lives have been forever changed or taken by gun violence because our leaders choose not to offer us protection. We must call on them to enact real change and work to end the crisis ourselves.”

Wear Orange originated on June 2, 2015—what would have been Hadiya Pendleton’s 18th birthday. It began with teenagers who wanted to honor their friend, Hadiya, after she was shot and killed in a park on the south side of Chicago. This year’s Wear Orange campaign arrives as the country is reeling from multiple tragedies, including the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and in Uvalde, Texas. 

Wear Orange honors Hadiya and the more than 110 people shot and killed every day in the United States, as well as the hundreds more who are shot and wounded. Activists across the country will unite to call for an end to all forms of gun violence, including mass shootings, domestic violence, firearm suicide, and city gun violence.

Thousands of grassroots volunteers from Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, in collaboration with the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Support Fund and local partners from across the country, will host hundreds of events and activities in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. during the weekend, centering the work around survivors of gun violence and community partners whose work directly addresses local gun violence prevention efforts. Advocates and volunteers will be gathering together to call for change at events across the country. If you are interested in additional information on any of the events, please reach out to [email protected]. 

Notable events include:

• June 3: Community gathering at August Wilson Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a rally for Senate action on gun safety in Market Square in Alexandria, Virginia.

• June 4: Brooklyn Bridge March in New York City, Golden Gate Bridge March in San Francisco, and Bridge Walk Rally from Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Kittery, Maine.
  • Community gatherings at Success Park in Jacksonville, Florida and in Raleigh, North Carolina. Wear Orange rallies for Gun Violence Prevention at the Fountain Square in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Historic Chester County Courthouse in Westchester, Pennsylvania, the Statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina, Wooldridge Square Park in Austin, Texas and a Wear Orange Peace Walk in Pasadena.
• June 5th: Wear Orange rallies for Gun Violence Prevention at Ambler Borough Hall in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and at Berkeley Riverfront in Kansas City, Missouri.

**please contact [email protected] for additional time and location details or for events in other cities**

The Wear Orange campaign will also showcase the breadth of the gun violence prevention movement. Details announced today include: 

• Wear Orange is collaborating with professional athletes, including support from more than 45 individual teams, ranging from the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Union, Miami Marlins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Washington Mystics, Washington Nationals, Washington Commanders, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Texans, Houston Dash, Dallas Wings, San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Milwaukee Brewers and the Connecticut Sun, along with league-wide, player-led engagement of the entire WNBPA. Dozens of individual athletes will also be leading on activations such as NFL star Aaron Donald’s foundation AD99 Solutions, olympic medalist Race Imboden, WNBA player Natasha Cloud and other members of the Everytown Athletic Council. 
• More than 40 corporate brands are supporting Wear Orange including media brands Bad Robot, Paramount, MTV Entertainment Studios, Parents, PEOPLE, and POPSUGAR.
• This year’s Wear Orange comes immediately after an announcement from Harry Styles that he will be partnering with Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund for the North American leg of his Love on Tour this summer. Bon Iver will also be supporting Wear Orange at a concert in Pittsburgh, PA on June 4, where the band has invited a local volunteer to come out onstage, share their activism story and explain why Wear Orange is so important. Michael Franti is performing a Wear Orange-themed concert at Red Rocks in Denver, CO on June 4. The Lumineers will be partnering with local Students Demand Action volunteers during their concert in Mansfield, MA on June 3. 
• More than 300 landmarks, buildings and billboards across the country will turn orange, including the Empire State Building, Niagara Falls, Washington National Cathedral, Aloha Tower, Skydance Bridge, Lamar Advertising digital billboards, and over 20 stadiums and arenas.
• More than 200 non-profit organizations and faith partners across various issue areas will continue to join the campaign in turning orange this weekend with groups like the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Latino Justice, League of United Latin American Citizens, National Education Association, the National Head Start Association, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Safe Kids Worldwide, Voto Latino and many more taking part in Wear Orange.
• Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) have introduced resolutions recognizing June 3rd as National Gun Violence Awareness Day and June as National Gun Violence Awareness Month to honor Hadiya’s birthday – June 2, 1997 – and to remember all victims and survivors of gun violence. And Mike Thompson (D-CA-05), the Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, took to twitter to call on his colleagues and constituents around the country to join him by wearing orange and posting on social media. 
• More than 100 mayors from around the country will participate in the Wear Orange campaign including Mayor Byron Brown (Buffalo, NY), Mayor Lori Lightfoot (Chicago, IL) Mayor Jeffrey Mims (Dayton, OH) and Mayor Ed Gainey (Pittsburgh, PA) by issuing proclamations declaring June 3 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day, lighting municipal landmarks orange, and posting on social media.

During Wear Orange this year, Everytown Support Fund is partnering with community organizations in collaboration with local Moms Demand Action groups to fund and provide support to 10 unique Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) projects across the country that will make a difference in communities most heavily impacted by gun violence. Grant recipients are partner organizations who have been engaged in performing lifesaving work across communities heavily impacted by gun violence for years. 

For more details about events happening Wear Orange Weekend, please contact [email protected]. More information about Wear Orange is available at WearOrange.org.