PROCLAMATION from Fred Camillo, First Selectman
WHEREAS, Connecticut saw 241 gun deaths during 2022, the highest toll in the State in more than 15 years; and
WHEREAS, As of early May there has been an average of more than one mass shooting every day in the United States; and
WHEREAS, More than 80 percent of child firearm suicides use a gun belonging to a family member and two-thirds of school shooters obtain the gun they used from their home or the home of a relative. Abused women are five times more likely to be killed if their abuser owns a firearm; and
WHEREAS, Beyond the loss of life, the emotional and physical pain suffered by survivors and the profound impact on communities where gun violence is pervasive, gun violence has tremendous economic consequences, costing Connecticut taxpayers up to $90 million annually, more than $430 million in direct costs and $1.2 billion in societal costs; and
WHEREAS, June 2nd would have been the 26th birthday of Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot and killed as an innocent bystander in a Chicago park, following which Hadiya’s friends chose to Wear Orange on her birthday because hunters wear orange to protect themselves; and
WHEREAS, By participating in Wear Orange activities we call attention to the crisis of gun violence and signal our commitment to reducing gun violence in all its forms.
NOW, THEREFORE, l, Fred Camillo, FIRST SELECTMAN OF THE TOWN OF GREENWICH, do
hereby proclaim Friday, June 2, 2023 as
National Gun Violence Awareness Day
in the Town of Greenwich and encourage all residents to honor and remember all victims and survivors of gun violence by wearing orange and continuing to work towards solutions to reduce violence in all forms.