Wear Orange: When Thoughts and Prayers Are Not Enough

Isaiah 2:4 says, “He will settle arguments between nations. They will pound their swords and their spears into rakes and shovels; they will never make war or attack one another.” 

I read Sandy Hook Promise posts on Instagram as well as occasionally do actions with Moms Demand Action and cannot escape thinking of the horror a parent experiences after their child or teen is shot. This is not sensationalism or fake news. On August 27, 2019, I took my middle school daughter to Lincoln High School for a Town Hall on gun sense, directly relating to the shooting of 15-year-old Day’von Hann, a student who lived in the Mission District. Then Speaker Nanci Pelosi, Rep. Jackie Speier, Founder of Moms Demand Action Shannon Watts, CA Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, and 17-year-old Phillip and Sala Burton High School student and member of United Playaz, AJ Santiago led the meeting. After these change-maker women shared personal experiences, data, and gun sense bill proposals, I was sure we would have gun violence reform. I was wrong. The CDC says that firearm incidents are the second-leading cause of death among American children and teens. One out of ten gun deaths involve age 19 or younger.

Everytown Research relays that “there were more school shootings in 2022 (46 shootings) than in any other year since Columbine.” One would think that this statistic would be enough to take immediate action to make common gun sense bills into law and enforce them in court. Money talks, so much of the bills continue to be blocked by gun supporter groups. How do we empower our children and teens to use their power to urge legislative, judicial, and executive branches to make change now? We need to continue telling stories of the pain and grief that parents and adults continue to experience after a child dies because of gun violence. Speaking the truth that advocates protection of all people follows Jesus’ non-violent civil disobedience. Christians are obligated to love their neighbor and care for the vulnerable. If they do not want to prevent gun violence against innocent civilians, their beliefs are not based in Jesus’ life-affirming truth.

Everyone is encouraged to wear orange during June 2 – 4, 2023 to bring awareness to gun sense solutions. Wear Orange was started by teens after their friend Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed in 2013 on a playground in Chicago, one week after marching in President Obama’s second inauguration parade. 2013 was ten years ago. Many suggestions have been made for eliminating bump stocks, military style machine guns and magazines, requiring background checks, and more. We are not seeing progress in eliminating gun violence. Most domestic terrorist shooting perpetrators are young adult white males, so we need to quash the false narrative that most mass shootings emerge from poor communities of color.

Everytown Research relays, “In America, every day 12 children die from gun violence. Another 32 are shot and inured. That’s over 16,000 children wounded or killed by gun violence every year. Since Columbine in 1999, more than 338,000 students in the U.S. have experienced gun violence at school.” If adults want to continue to revert to blaming mental health on these tragedies and then do nothing, they are missing their call to end violence by regulating guns and enforcing gun laws.

After reading statistics or going through the shock and grief of another mass shooting, we experience overwhelm and then freeze. How can we take small steps to use our power as residents in the U.S. to create safety? How can we activate our grief to make positive change?

Wear orange to church on Sunday, June 4.

Do more research on gun violence in your community. Look at Gun Violence Archive. Check out this website Everytown.org/solutions. Call your governor and leave them a message saying that you’re concerned about gun violence. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office: (916) 445-2841. Small steps make a difference.

Photo by WearOrange.org

Cover Art by Jess Churchill