CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On Friday advocates across the country are wearing orange to represent the countless lives lost to gun violence in our country. In North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper is claiming June 4th as Gun Violence Awareness Day.
“There are too many victims of gun violence that could have been prevented,” Gov. Cooper says. “It’s critical that we enact common sense protections to keep our communities safe.”
Governor Cooper is proposing a budget of $1 million for funding community violence prevention grants. Officials say these grants will be given to community and healthcare organizations that use evidence-based interventions to reduce violence in the community.
Cooper shared his priorities on Thursday for the new budget proposal including addressing violence as a public health issue, encouraging violence interruption programs, and exploring hospital-based violence intervention programs.
State officials say North Carolina has the 23rd highest rate of gun deaths in the nation, with the average of more than 1,300 gun deaths each year.
“2020 was the most violent year of the 21st century nationwide and in NC,” said Becky Ceartas, Executive Director of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence. “We thank Gov. Cooper for his leadership in addressing the gun violence epidemic by prioritizing evidence based solutions that reduce gun homicides in his priorities to the Governor’s Crime Commission.”
National Gun Violence Awareness Day was started after Hadiya Pendleton was tragically shot and killed as a teenager back in 2013 in Chicago. Orange is the color her friends wore in support after she was killed at only 15-years-old, just one week after performing at President Obama’s 2nd inaugural parade.
The day is now observed on the first Friday of June every year, with cities across the United States going orange to bring awareness to gun violence.
