Supervisors support Gun Violence Awareness Day
Gun violence is the leading cause of death of teens and children in the United States.
On Tuesday, on the eve of the one year anniversary of the tragic school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution declaring the first Friday in June as National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
According to the resolution, the U.S. has already endured more than 200 mass shootings this year.
“Each tragedy creates community tragedy and harms our kids and families in far reaching ways,” Supervisor Lucas Frerichs emphasized.
Clad in a bright orange tie, Frerichs introduced the resolution and explained why orange is a such symbolic color for spreading awareness about gun violence.
“On Jan. 21, 2013, Hadiya Pendleton marched in President Obama's second inaugural parade. One week later, Hadiya was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago,” Frerichs said. “Soon after this tragedy, Hadiya's childhood friends decided to commemorate her life by wearing orange, the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others from guns.”
Wear orange began on June 2, 2015, what would've been Pendleton's 18th birthday. Since then, Wear Orange has expanded to a period of three days each year, National Gun Violence Awareness Day, the first Friday in June, and Wear Orange Weekend, the accompanying weekend. This year, Wear Orange will take place from June 2 to 4.
“Orange has become the defining color of the Gun Violence Awareness movement,” Frerichs said. “Whether it is worn by students here in Yolo County, ac
tivists throughout California or Hadiya's loved ones in Chicago, orange honors the more than 120 lives cut short and hundreds more wounded by gun violence everyday here in U.S.”
Yolo County has taken steps towards preventing gun violence by partnering with community organizations such as Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action and Advance Peace to enact safe storage gun ordinances at both the city and county levels. All three organizations were represented at Tuesday's meeting.
The county is also working in conjunction with law enforcement partners on greater public awareness and implementation of the gun violence restraining order.
Frerichs presented the resolution to representatives from the Yolo County chapter of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action at UC Davis.
Roan Thiabault, co-lead of the UC Davis Students Demand Action chapter, spoke about how National Gun Violence Awareness Day should also be used to remember the tragedies that may not always be at the forefront of one's mind.
“It is a time for us to uplift victims and survivors of gun violence and highlight the types of gun violence that don't make the headlines, including the six out of every 10 gun deaths that are suicides, increased calls to domestic violence hotlines across the country and city gun violence that happens on a daily basis,” Thiabault said.
Supervisor Angel Barajas also highlighted Advance Peace before presenting them with a framed resolution. Advance Peace is a “national nonprofit that works in multiple cities to reduce gun violence and promote community healing.” The team at Advance Peace is largely made up of formerly incarcerated “street outreach workers” who engage and mentor those creating gun violence risk.
In 2019, Woodland suffered seven homicides due to gun violence and a total of 25 shootings. In 2020, there was one homicide and 29 shootings. In 2021, there were two homicides and a total of 43 shootings.
Near the end of 2021, members from Advance Peace came to Woodland and engaged those members of the community that were involved in the shootings and helped to turn their lives around.
“We had zero homicides the next year and only four shootings, a 91% reduction,” Barajas said. “That is what you call change.”