City of Columbia lights keyhole orange to bring attention to gun violence

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia marked National Gun Violence Awareness Day on Friday by lighting the iconic keyhole sculpture in front of City Hall orange in the aftermath of several high-profile mass shootings.

The city also lit the sculpture after one of those shootings -- the slaughter last month at a Buffalo, New York supermarket. This week people in Uvalde, Texas are also burying 19 students and two teachers killed at an elementary school.

National Gun Violence Awareness Day takes place every year on the first Friday in June.

In 2021, more than 1,000 partner organizations, influencers, corporate brands, elected officials and landmarks joined hundreds of thousands of Americans in the effort, according to Wear Orange, a campaign seeking tighter gun regulations.

People wear orange on this day to honor 110 lives killed and hundreds of people wounded every day by gun violence, the organization says.

Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe says it's extremely important to think about what people can do to promote awareness and prevent acts of gun violence from happening.  

"The other thing we saw though is really just having people being conscious and working together with their neighbor, their community members to help find solutions," said Mayor Buffaloe.

Mayor Buffaloe says the city is actively working to lower gun violence in Columbia and she says it's marked as a priority in their American rescue plan spending.

"Our American rescue plan act funds is about lessening community violence so we know that what we do for raising awareness around gun violence is going to be a part of that discussion," said Mayor Buffaloe.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer, in 2020 there were 442 violent crime incidents and 562 offenses reported by the Columbia Police Department. Data on the site also shows more than 100 of the violent crimes were committed with a handgun and most took place at the victim's home.

Missouri has no law requiring background checks on unlicensed gun sales. State laws also allow people to carry hidden handguns in public without a permit or safety training.

Data shows that on average around 1,200 people die by guns in Missouri every year and Missouri ranks number 41 in the country for gun law strength, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, the group that organizes the Wear Orange campaign.

According to the Columbia police dispatch log just this year the city has already experienced 75 shots fired calls.

This is one reason why organizations nationwide such as Missouri's Moms Demand Action are pushing for more gun laws to address violent crime.

"Maybe we all got a little numb to Sandy Hook because it's in the background now but it just happened again last week. Little children didn't come home and that's not okay and we'll be fighting...all the moms will be fighting til our dying breath to make our country safe," said Catey Terry the spokesperson for Columbia's Moms Demand Action.