School district recognizes National Gun Violence Awareness Day

Islanders Ben Murawski and his mom Judith Anderson joined Issaquah resident Caroline Haessly in standing strong with their homemade signs during a National Gun Violence Awareness Day gathering on June 3 at Mercerdale Park.

The critical messages “Ban Assault Weapons” and “Who Will Die Next?” were emblazoned in thick black marker on a pair of orange signs during the afternoon event, which featured a host of attendees engaged in discussions and a group of Mercer Island Police Department members standing nearby.

Murawski, a Mercer Island High School junior, said the event is important to help end gun violence. On the day of the event, the Mercer Island School District recognized National Gun Violence Awareness Day, also known as Wear Orange Day.

Leading the charge at the event were some of the Mercer Island PTA Committee on Gun Violence Prevention founding members, Gwen Loosmore, Mindy Smith, Tanya Aggar, Lori Cohen-Sanford and Bharat Shyam. Erin Gurney also helped launch the committee, which formed in response to the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. Local residents Jennifer Flood, Melissa Neher, Ashley Hay and Alice Finch have also played key roles on the committee over the years.

“We, the Mercer Island PTA Council, are horrified and grief-stricken by this scourge of senseless violence that’s resulting in the lives of our children being unduly cut short,” reads a press release, which points to the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and other school shootings this year.

People don orange in honor of Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago in 2013. Wear Orange Day — which features the color signifying protection — also honors thousands of others who are killed with guns and are shot and wounded every year, according to the PTA council’s release.

“It is a big lift to end gun violence in our country, but as with all big lifts, they start with a step, and our community can take another step together on Friday,” Superintendent Donna Colosky and Deputy Superintendent Fred Rundle wrote in an online letter to the school community.

Anderson said that Murawski’s younger brother is a middle-schooler and at home they discuss, “How money controls our politics. If you look at the list of NRA (National Rifle Association) contributions to members of Congress, it’s staggering. And, of course, members of Congress are going to be motivated to not vote against NRA interests.”

After Anderson noted that she cares about ending all forms of gun violence, Haessly added that Congress needs to do its job and change gun laws. Haessly felt it was important for her to attend the event and do something to help.

“It’s not safe for kids to go to school. Kids are afraid to go. Little kids shouldn’t be worrying about being in a bloodbath or having to play dead. It’s horrifying. We are a brutal culture to allow this to happen, and I believe in kindness,” she said.

Aggar said that reducing access to guns and safe storage of firearms are key aspects of her discussions on the issue. Her committee worked closely with the Alliance for Gun Responsibility in gathering thousands of signatures on the Island in support of Initiative 1639, which was passed in 2018 and features new restrictions like background checks and waiting periods for purchasing semiautomatic assault rifles, increasing the minimum age to buy semiautomatic assault rifles to 21, establishing requirements for storage of all firearms and more.

The group is always pushing for better legislation to promote universal background checks, ban assault weapons and eliminate and reduce high-capacity magazines, Aggar said. In local and state schools, Aggar said the group would like to help implement a youth reporting tip line if there are concerns about a potentially dangerous situation.

“If they see something — like maybe somebody’s talking about guns, maybe somebody has a knife or a gun in their backpack — what can they do to be part of the solution? Sadly, that’s where we are,” said Aggar, adding that the school district has involved students in the Sandy Hook Promise’s Say Something program.

Shyam and city councilmember Craig Reynolds said the majority of Islanders and United States residents support having more of a say in gun laws. As he set up tables for the event, Shyam discussed the multitude of shootings that have happened throughout the nation recently.

“For me, personally, it’s that sometimes we can feel like we have lost hope or we’ve become cynical because it feels like it’s going on, and on, and on, and on,” he said.

No matter how many people attended the June 3 event, Shyam said he accumulates hope and energy to continue the gun-prevention efforts that he’s been involved with since the mid-’90s.

Reynolds said he is a kindred spirit to the group and it’s an important event for him to engage in on a personal level. His best friend in high school was killed in a gun accident involving another friend.

“Once something like that happens in your life, you never fully move beyond it. It’s always been there for me, so it’s something I feel very passionate about,” he said of the event.

Some of the founding members of the Mercer Island PTA Committee on Gun Violence Prevention are, from left to right, Gwen Loosmore, Mindy Smith, Tanya Aggar, Lori Cohen-Sanford and Bharat Shyam. Courtesy photo