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'WEAR ORANGE' Ashland group marks National Gun Violence Awareness Day Event intended to bring attention to lives lost due to gunfire Comment By Julie Akins For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Julie Akins For the Tidings Posted Jun. 2, 2016 at 8:11 PM By Julie Akins For the Tidings Posted Jun. 2, 2016 at 8:11 PM » RELATED CONTENT • Gun Violence Awareness Day event set on Ashland Plaza • What can be done to reduce gun violence? • Ashland council nixes ban on open carrying of guns • Obama unveils ideas for curbing gun violence » Social News In 1976 when Elin Babcock attended Cal State Fullerton, a gunman entered the campus and fired. The shooter, 37-year-old Edward Charles Allaway, a custodian at the university's library, used a semi-automatic rifle to kill seven people and wound two others in the library's first-floor lobby. Forty years later she stands in Ashland wearing a quilt panel listing all the shootings in 2015, and says, “I think we have to stop thinking it’s not going to happen in our communities.” Babcock was one of about 60 gathered on the Ashland Plaza for the first local observance of National Gun Violence Awareness Day, organized by Vision Quilt founder Cathy DeForest of Ashland. The "wear orange" movement started in Chicago in 2013 when classmates of a student killed by gunfire wore orange to honor their murdered friend. Speaking on Thursday in Ashland to the crowd, many wearing the panels they’ve created over orange shirts, DeForest told them people were gathered in cities across the country, all organizing to stop gun violence. “Orange is the color of protection of hunters and it stands out,” Deforest said, adding “90 people will die from gun violence today in this country.” She told the onlookers under a hot June sun, “This is not a political action, it’s about safety and stopping gun deaths.” A group of teens from The Maslow Project came wearing quilt panels they created. They joined in a peace proclamation asking communities to stop deaths from guns by working together and spreading awareness. The group observed a moment of silence to honor all those who have died in gun deaths, including those who perished in a murder suicide just yesterday which took the life of a professor and the killer, Mainak Sarkar, according to police. Police say the shooter may also have killed a woman found in a Minneapolis-area home. “I support projects against gun violence," said Linda Adams, who is also a part of the Vision Quilt Project, which hopes to unite the nation under the idea that every person can be safe from gun violence and death. "The proliferation of guns and violence is tragic.” They plan on using quilts as a way of creating greater awareness, much as the AIDS quilt changed the conversation about AIDS from fear to seeking solutions, according to DeForest. Later this month Ashland Middle School students will take the panels to Washington, D.C. hoping to meet with the state’s representatives to express their concern. Congress has not moved on gun legislation lately, but President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order in January calling for expanded background checks, licensing for all gun sellers, expanding mental health services and encouraging research for technological solutions to gun violence. Numerous accidental deaths from children who are able to access firearms continues to be an issue; 265 people were shot by children accidentally last year, according to Every Town for Gun Safety. “We need to encourage controls on guns so children can’t get ahold of a gun in the car and shoot their parents in the back seat,” says Adams. The tone of the gathering was not focused on gun ownership, but more on gun safety. DeForest said she wants to change the dialogue from fighting about what divides Americans and getting to the point of agreement. “Many gun owners are in favor of making guns more safe and ending this violence,” she said. Babcock agrees that the argument is not the point, but more the root causes and compassion, even for the shooters. “Any child who is isolated and estranged, who doesn’t have friends, a child who is bullied," said Babcock. "This can happen. We need to see something that might be a common denominator.” Vision Quilt continues to create panels to spread their message and they are seeking help from anyone who would like to be a part of their efforts. They can be reached at [email protected]. Email Ashland freelance writer Julie Akins at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ @julieakins. By Julie Akins For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Julie Akins For the Tidings Posted Jun. 2, 2016 at 8:11 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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