Attendees at Thursday evening's rally.
In the wake of mass shootings in New York and Texas, 100 people “wore orange” in a downtown church Thursday evening to demand action on gun control.
The “Wear Orange 2022” rally, hosted by Connecticut Against Gun Violence (CAGV), took place at United Church on the Green in honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
The event began with the ringing of a bell, 19 times, to honor the lives of children taken by the most recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde.
CAGV stressed their goal for the evening was to call citizens to action.
“We are strong when we are here together, but we are strongest when we … go out there and demand change,” said CAGV Chair Melissa Cane. Legislators, activists, and gun-violence victims alike spoke on the need to lobby for gun-control legislation — from more background checks to banning assault rifles and ghost guns — in the run-up of November’s elections.
The crowd included many young people, noted by speaker Kate Farrar, executive director of the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF). Farrar noted that most Americans under 25 are used to the continual cycle of gun violence because it is all they have ever known.
“If you are not actively advocating for better gun control, then you are a part of the problem,” Farrar stated.
Youth activist Wilner Joseph (pictured) advocated increasing funding for programs for young people, arguing that a lack of opportunities and activities for children of color creates a foundation for potential violence.
The crowd included people whose families have been directly touched by gun violence, including Nicole Matthews, founder of a group called Tears to Triumph, and activist Sean Reeves. Matthews founded her organization for victims of gun violence after losing her own son. She, too, called for the crowd to keep fighting for stricter gun laws for the sake of youth and their families.
“We should never have to bury our kids,” Matthews said. “They should be burying us.”
Legislators are put into power by the people and “they can be moved when we decide to move them,” Reeves noted.
Terra Volpe, CAGV director of community outreach, announced the launch of the “Pen Power Project” designed to cease the spread of gun violence by getting people to write letters and get the vote out. Their goal is to have 10,000 letters written and sent out before November. The time for thoughts and prayers alone, Volpe said, has long passed. Letters can be texted to 72572.
