Gun Violence Memorial Set To Open In Exposition Park
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will be in Los Angeles to assist in unveiling a Gun Violence Memorial in Exposition Park on October 18.
The United States saw a 15% increase in gun violence from 2019, with a tragic 45,000 lives lost in 2020.
The Gun Violence Memorial will feature 3,400 vases with flowers in Exposition Park - one for each person who lost their life to
gun violence in 2020. The Memorial will be open to public viewing from October 18 to October 22, with Giffords delivering a press conference on Tuesday, October 19 at 10AM PT.
For California, gun violence numbers far eclipsed those from 2019, up 18% in 2020. Homicide rates rose 30% in that time - an average of one death per every three hours - while 91% of those incidents in the state were gun related.
As numbers continue to increase countrywide, Giffords and her team call on local lawmakers and Congresspeople to take action and prevent further tragedy.
In an effort to raise awareness about gun violence, Giffords began a nationwide tour, where her and her team set up memorials in honor of those lost to gun violence in the last year. She began at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where they place over 40,000 vases to represent the nationwide total. Since then she has visited many other monuments around the United States, including stops in New York City and Philadelphia.
Giffords has teamed up with the Future Coalition, the Prevention Institute, the Urban Peace Institute and Women Against Gun Violence to bring this memorial to life.