County Designates June 4 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day

REDWOOD CITY – On May 18, 2021, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution designating June 4, 2021 as “Wear Orange” National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

The National Gun Violence Awareness Day was inspired by friends of Hadiya Pendleton, who was tragically shot and killed in Chicago at the age of 15 in 2013. Orange is the color that her friends wore in her honor, and since then orange has been the defining color of the gun violence prevention movement.

“With national action to reduce gun violence stalled in the current political environment, local jurisdictions are increasingly filling the gap by acting locally,” said Supervisor Dave Pine. “In the past few years, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors adopted legislation I spearheaded to improve the requirements for safe storage of firearms in the home, supported highly successful gun buyback events, and we continue the tradition of joining other communities in honoring victims of gun violence."

In the U.S., 100 Americans are killed by gun violence every day and on average there are nearly 13,000 gun homicides every year. Firearms are the second leading cause of death for American children and teens and access to a gun increases the risk of death by suicide by 300 percent.

To honor the lives cut short and the countless survivors who are injured by shootings every day, a national coalition of organizations, including MOMS Demand Action which has a local Peninsula chapter, has designated the first Friday in June, which this year falls on June 4, 2021, as the 7th National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

The day is marked by the wearing of orange in solidarity with the broad-based effort to end gun violence. A few days later, on June 8, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors will consider an ordinance that would increase the security and other requirements to operate a gun dealership in the unincorporated sections of the County.

“By proclaiming June 4th Gun Violence Awareness Day and wearing orange for the day, San Mateo County reiterates its commitment to address this critical issue,” said Pine.

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