WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) joined 14 Senate colleagues and 25 Representatives, led by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL), in introducing a resolution in the House and Senate establishing the weekend of June 1-3, 2018 as “National Gun Violence Awareness Weekend” and designating June as “National Gun Violence Awareness Month.”  Every day in America, an average of around 300 men, women, and children are shot, nearly one-third of them fatally.  Establishing a month to bring attention to the issue of gun violence honors the thousands of Americans who are victims of gun violence every year, including Hadiya Pendleton who was shot and killed in Chicago, Illinois on January 29, 2013.  The resolution also urges citizens and community leaders to concentrate heightened attention on gun violence during June, when gun violence typically spikes at the start of the summer months, and to work together to make our communities safer from this violence. 

“National Gun Violence Awareness Month will be a time of national reckoning— a month to face the pain caused each and every day by the epidemic of gun violence and commit to real reform. Let’s make this June be the month that we move past the countless thoughts and prayers and pass commonsense measures to end the scourge of gun violence,” said Blumenthal and Murphy.

Along with Blumenthal, Murphy, Durbin and Duckworth, U.S. Senators cosponsoring the resolution include: U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Tom Carper (D-DE), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Patty Murray (D-WA). 

Along with Kelly, U.S. Representatives cosponsoring the resolution include: Nanette Barragan (D-CA-44), Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03), Don Beyer (D-VA-08), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-03), Tony Cardenas (D-CA-29), Katherine Clark (D-MA-05), Lacy Clay (D-MO-01), Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Ted Deutch (D-FL-21), Bill Foster (D-IL-11), Marcia Fudge (D-OH-11), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL-04), Alcee Hastings (D-FL-20), Bill Keating (D-MA-09), Ro Khanna (D-CA-17), Jim Langevin (D-RI-02), Betty McCollum (D-MN-04), Gwen Moore (D-WI-04), Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ-10), Stacey Plaskett (D-VI-AL), Cedric Richmond (D-LA-02), Bobby Rush (D-IL-01), Mike Thompson (D-CA-05), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12).

Gun violence is an issue that affects communities in every state across the country.  Each year, more than 35,000 people in America are killed and 80,000 are injured by gunfire.  The weekend of June 1 – 3, 2018, people across the nation will join together in the fourth annual “National Gun Violence Awareness Weekend” and will wear the color orange to bring attention to the issue of gun violence. 

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