Moms Demand Action, SNAP plan event for gun-violence prevention

Local groups Moms Demand Action and Stop Needless Acts of Violence Please (SNAP) will gather Friday, June 2, for a Wear Orange event to call attention to gun violence.

The event will take place from noon to 1 p.m. at Peace Park, at the corner of Broadway and Spanish Street in downtown Cape Girardeau.

According to a flyer, this event is a community gathering to honor victims and survivors as they work together to end gun violence.

Leslie Washington, a volunteer for Moms Demand Action, is a survivor of gun violence and domestic abuse.

"It's important to get the knowledge and the awareness out because so many things have happened here in Cape Girardeau. The shooting at Hotshots, shooting across the bridge and just various things that have happened," Washington said. "I just want to make people aware that if you step out and if you help, that we hopefully can end this gun violence pandemic."

Wear Orange weekend is June 2 through Sunday, June 4, and is observed across the country. The event started after 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed while on a playground in Chicago a week after marching in President Barack Obama's second inaugural parade Jan. 21, 2013.

Soon after this tragedy, Hadiya's friends commemorated her life by wearing orange, the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others, according to the Wear Orange website, www.wearorange.org.

Those who observe this weekend wear orange to honor Hadiya and the more than 40,000 people who are killed with guns, and approximately 85,000 who are shot and wounded every year in the U.S.

The Gun Violence Archive states there were 646 mass shootings in 2022 and 690 in 2021. As of 2023, 234 mass shootings have been reported. Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as an incident where four or more individuals, not including the shooter, are shot or killed.

This event will have speakers, activities and a setup of T-shirts that will indicate the number of gun violence victims.

On June 4, there will be another Wear Orange event at 11 a.m. at St. James AME Church, 516 North St., that will be open to the public.

To RSVP to this event, text "ORANGE" to 64433 or email besmartsemo@gmail.com.