Mountlake Terrace mayor, council proclaim June 1 Gun Violence Awareness Day

Mountlake Terrace Mayor Jerry Smith, center, and Mountlake Terrace City Councilmembers with representatives of Moms Demand Action (all wearing orange) Monday night. (Photo by Teresa Wippel)

Mountlake Terrace Mayor Jerry Smith and members of City Council have proclaimed Friday, June 1 as Gun Violence Awareness Day. The proclamation, read during the May 21 council business meeting, declares that June 1 is a day to honor all gun violence victims and survivors, “and to declare that we as a country must do more to reduce gun violence.”

The proclamation also noted that Second Amendment rights “go hand in hand with keeping guns away from dangerous people.”

The national day is being sponsored by a coalition of different organizations, but four local members of the group Moms Demand Action were present at the council meeting wearing orange t-shirts, and presented each councilmember with an orange ribbon. The color orange was chosen because hunters wear orange to announce themselves to other hunters when out in the woods, and symbolizes the value of human life, the proclamation said.

Anyone can join the campaign by pledging to wear orange on June 1 to help raise awareness about gun violence and to encourage responsible gun ownership to help keep children safe, the proclamation added.

Members of Moms Demand Action will also be appearing on several freeway overpasses to raise awareness, from 3:30-6:30 p.m. June 1. Those overpasses include the one in Mountlake Terrace at Interstate 5 and 236th Street Southwest but also include those at 145th and 185th in Shoreline, and at 164th in Lynnwood.

“We invite those who can to wear orange and join us on the overpasses on June 1,” said organizer Jan Engelhart.

 

  1. Instead of having June 1st proclaimed gun awareness day, mental health day would be more appropriate. Most of the shooters, etc. were on some type of mind altering drug. No one talks about that issue because of the anti-gun agenda being pushed. Talk about the mental health/drug isssue instead of jumping on the anti-gun bandwagon.

    1. I’m very much in favor of mental health awareness. One important thing we can do is to learn how to provide support and raise awareness without making an entire class of people with medical conditions into a scapegoat for the results of irresponsible gun laws.

      I recommend reaching out to the local chapter of NAMI if you really want to learn more about this issue and make an impact.

      https://www.namisnohomishcounty.org

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