“Gun violence has altered…our daily lives:” San Diego joins national vigil honoring those lost by gunfire

calico 12/09/2023

SAN DIEGO —

Jeff Raya stood up from a Mission Hills church pew Saturday and said the name of his late aunt, Wendy Raya, who was fatally shot in Los Angeles 20 years ago, he said.

A bell rang out in her honor and then sounded a dozen more times to commemorate all victims of gun violence.

“(Her death) could have been prevented,” said Raya, a San Diego resident among 100 others who gathered at the Mission Hills United Methodist Church for the 11th annual National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence.

Since 2013, the Newtown Action Alliance Foundation has held the annual event on or near the anniversary of the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn. The vigils typically bring together survivors of gun violence, victims’ family members, activists and elected officials to honor lives lost and bring awareness to reducing gun violence in the U.S.

Lenise Andrade, of San Diego, sheds a tear as she holds a candle during the 11th-annual vigil for all victims of gun violence

Locally, Team ENOUGH San Diego and San Diegans for Gun Violence Prevention partnered with the Mission Hills church to host a late afternoon vigil.

Those who spoke during the event included the Rev. Michelle Andrews, Rep. Sara Jacobs, Assemblymember Chris Ward and students Beckham Arias from San Diego High School and Pashe Crisp from Scripps Ranch High School.

Though communities have gathered for years to prevent gun violence, speakers said Saturday that it is more important than ever to spotlight the lasting impacts of said violence and to keep the issue in the forefront until gun-related deaths and injuries decrease.

Beckham Arias, with Team ENOUGH San Diego, speaks during the 11th-annual vigil for all victims of gun violence

“Gun violence has altered the way that we navigate our daily lives,” said Arias, who called on those of voting age “to vote for policies that prioritize our safety for a future where the innocence of childhood isn’t shattered by gun violence.”

Since the Sandy Hook mass shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead, more than 1 million people in the country have died or have been wounded by guns, the Newtown Action Alliance Foundation said on its website.

Stephen Baker, a Team ENOUGH San Diego member and gun violence prevention activist, said 3 million children experience gun violence every year.

“Students deserve to feel safe in schools, concerts, shopping centers, and their neighborhoods,” he said. “Instead, our country is raising a generation of scarred and scared young people. More and more of us are speaking out, and working toward changes, because we don’t believe it has to be this way.”

According to a Pew Research Center analysis, the number of gun deaths among children and teenagers in the U.S. increased 50 percent between 2019 and 2021. The jump in related deaths, the report said, is part of an overall increase in gun-related deaths among Americans. These fatalities include homicides, suicides, accidents and categories where firearms were the underlying cause of death.

This year’s vigil commemorated the victims of school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary, Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 students and two teachers were slain, and Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, where three students, including the suspect, died.

After some singing and a candlelit moment of silence, attendees helped stitch together a quilt that had the names and photos of the victims of the school shooting in Uvalde.