Barack Obama and more speak out on National Gun Violence Awareness Day

Cierra Jones
·3 min read
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Barack Obama
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Today (June 2), citizens nationwide wore orange in support of National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

Former President Barack Obama called for change on social media as he asked his fellow Americans to join him in honoring those who fell prey to deadly weapons. “On National Gun Violence Awareness Day, let’s honor the victims of gun violence — and do what we can to prevent even more tragedies,” Obama tweeted.

The Hawaii native added, “Keep using your voice to call for change, keep voting, keep urging Congress to take action. And support the work of organizations like Everytown and WearOrange.org.”

Along with the 61-year-old politician, multiple professional sports teams used their platform to speak on the ongoing violence plaguing the country. Some even changed their profile logo to the color orange. All of the Chicago major league organizations announced their plan to pledge funds to support programs fighting against gun violence within the city.

“As part of the Chicago Sports Alliance with McCormick Foundation,” the Chicago Bulls’ platform read. “We will provide $1.5 million in grants to support five programs addressing gun violence in Chicago.”

In the NFL, the Seattle Seahawks shared images of their players sporting orange shirts to bring awareness to the deadly crisis. The team’s Twitter page noted that gun violence ends 120 lives and wounds hundreds more every day in America.

As online users continue to support solving the United States’ gun problem, a third platform dedicated to moms who demand action offered another statistical point. “This National Gun Violence Awareness Day, wear orange for the countless women in this country whose lives have been stolen or forever changed by an armed abuser,” the post read. The stat added, “Every month, an average of 70 women in the U.S. are shot and killed by an intimate partner, and many more are shot and wounded.”

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