Edgewood 'Wear Orange' Event Will Protest Gun Violence

EDGEWOOD, MD — Don't be surprised to see a sea of orange shirts, shoes, socks and headbands in and around Edgewood this weekend. Nearly 750 grassroots events are planned nationwide from Friday through Sunday to call for an end to gun violence.

The so-called "Wear Orange 2019" campaign events are part of the fifth annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day on Friday, June 7. As part of this campaign, the Wear Orange Community Cleanup and Fair will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday in Edgewater Village Park, at 1980 Brookside Drive in Edgewood.

The cleanup will be in the lake area on Edgewater Road behind the Save-A-Lot shopping center from 10 a.m. to noon. It will be followed by a community fair from noon to 2 p.m., with information from local resources, entertainment, games and snacks provided by the Edgewood Recreation & Community Center. This is a family-friendly event and open to the public.

More than 100 Americans are killed with guns every day, according to the organization, and guns are the second-leading cause of death for American children. The Wear Orange events, dedicated to honoring victims of gun violence, are meant to elevate the "voice of every American who demands an end to gun violence" throughout the weekend.

Organizers chose the color orange in honor of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who was gunned down in Chicago a week after performing at President Barack Obama's second inaugural parade in January 2013. Pendleton's friends wore orange in her honor.

Gun safety advocates are spearheading the effort, which has attracted brand partners including Levi Strauss & Co. and Dick's Sporting Goods, as well as celebrities including Julianne Moore, Laura Dern and Keegan-Michael Key. Other cultural influencers and more than 200 mayors plan to partake, as well as U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois.

Dozens of large events are planned in cities such as Baltimore, Boston, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco, South Bend, Tampa and Washington, D.C., organizers said. Moreover, major landmarks and retail stores plan to turn orange as well, including the famed Empire State Building in New York City.

The event comes days after 12 people were killed in a mass shooting at Virginia Beach Municipal Center. As Patch previously reported, mass shootings have become commonplace in America. The Virginia shooting was one of 156 mass shootings as of Monday, which marked just the 154th day of the year. Shootings can only be eligible for the database if at least four people are shot or killed, excluding the gunman.

Americans make up just 4.4 percent of the world's population but own 42 percent of the world's guns, according to a 2016 study by Adam Lankford, an associate criminology and criminal justice professor at the University of Alabama.

Lankford told Patch this week that about 31 percent of all public mass shooters attack in America. If mass shootings were evenly distributed, that number would be closer to 5 percent or less, he said.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.