Volunteers with Moms Demand Action and community members gathered at Palace Coffee and Bakery in downtown Eugene on Friday to honor victims and survivors of gun violence.

Friday was National Gun Violence Awareness Day and the start of “Wear Orange” weekend, which began in 2013 following the death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago.

Soon after her death, friends of Hadiya commemorated her life by wearing orange, which is the color hunters wear to protect themselves in the woods.

“Our group is here today in support of survivors of gun violence and victims of gun violence to raise awareness about the gun violence crisis in the U.S. and here in Oregon,” said Diane Peterson, volunteer leader for Moms Demand Action. “We are coming together in a show of solidarity to say we can do more and we should be doing more to end gun violence.”

Moms Demand Action is a nationwide organization that advocates for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence. Local chapters of the organization work within communities to educate residents and business owners about responsible gun ownership.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48,830 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S. in 2021. Of that total, 54% of all gun-related deaths were suicides, while 43% were homicides. The remaining gun deaths in 2021 were either accidental, involved law enforcement or had undetermined circumstances.

Research from EveryStat, an online database that tracks gun-related deaths by state, says an average of 600 people die by guns in Oregon each year. With a rate of 13.3 deaths per 100,000 people, Oregon has the 32nd highest rate of gun deaths in the U.S.

Community members who attended the event Friday wearing orange received a dollar off of their drink of choice at Palace Coffee. All donations from the event will be going to the Oregon Chapter of Mom’s Demand Action to support educational community events on gun violence awareness.

“We’re not trying to take all the guns away as some might think,” Peterson said. “We’re encouraging a culture of responsibility around gun ownership. Along those lines, we offer some gun locks for free, we have a biometric safe that was donated by a local survivor.”

That survivor is Carol Manstrom, a Eugene resident and volunteer with Mom’s Demand Action whose teenage son died from a firearm suicide in 2017.

“I’m a retired law enforcement officer and a gun owner but the issue of the lethal intersection between guns and suicide brought me to a place where I increase my awareness through organizations that are advocating for increased awareness about gun violence and ways to prevent all forms of gun violence,” Manstrom said.

School shootings, public shootings, and gun violence overall got Bobbie Cirel, a Eugene resident and volunteer with Moms Demand Action, involved with advocacy and educating the community on gun violence.

“I couldn’t remain silent,” Cirel said. “What I would love to see is people being fearless in the face of witnessing something that could potentially become gun violence. I really hope that events like this will help people speak up when they see something.”

Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at HKochanski@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: National Gun Violence Awareness Day recognized by Eugene community