The U.S. government has allowed gun violence to become a human rights crisis. An average of 109 people are killed every day by gun violence, and Black and Brown communities nationwide suffer disproportionately.
But we know the facts that on key principles of gun safety, Americans are united: In 2021, a Pew Research Center study showed that 81% of Americans support universal background checks.
Amnesty International has analyzed the human rights impact of the gun violence crisis in the U.S. Our reporting examines how all aspects of American life have been compromised in some way by the unfettered access to guns, with no attempts at meaningful national regulation.
No one’s human rights can be considered secure as long as U.S. leaders fail to do anything about gun violence.
Here are four major ways you can help move solutions forward:️
- Tell Your Lawmakers: Pass Universal Background Checks
- Send a Message to Congress: Commit $5 Billion to Ending Gun Violence
- Visit Our Campaign “Heroes Against Gun Violence”
- Read & Share Our Report, “In the Line of Fire”
Do you know the origins of Wear Orange Day?
In 2013, Hadiya Pendleton, a fifteen-year-old girl from Chicago, was shot and killed on a playground in her hometown. Soon after this unspeakable tragedy, Hadiya’s childhood friends started commemorating her life by wearing orange each year on her birthday, June 2.
Since then, the movement has grown and spread across the country — and orange has been the defining color of the gun violence prevention movement.
I hope you’ll join us and thousands of others across the country to honor Hadiya’s life and all those whose lives have been cut short by gun violence in the U.S.
