LAURINBURG — A special event is being planned for Laurinburg on June 1.

The #Wear Orange BE SMART campaign march will start at 9 a.m. at 303 N. Main St. in Laurinburg and end at the Scotland County Courthouse. The event is being organized locally by Dorothy Tyson.

Sponsored by the Laurinburg Branch of the National Association of University Women, the #Wear Orange BE SMART Campaign, according to its website, is a movement of residents fighting for public safety measures that respect the Second Amendment and protect people from gun violence.

The community is encouraged to attend the march wearing orange or orange ribbons. The color orange is used because hunters wear it for protection since the color is bold, bright and easily seen.

In 2017, the city of Laurinburg and the Laurinburg branch of the National Association of University Women teamed up to promote gun violence awareness. A proclamation was signed declaring June 3 as Wear Orange Day.

National Gun Violence Awareness Day (June 2) was created in honor of Hadiya Pendleton’s 18th birthday. Pendleton was a 15-year-old girl from Chicago, Illinois who passed away from an act of gun violence.

As of May 22, according to gunviolencearchive.org, there has been 20,346 gun violence incidents in the U.S. in the year 2019. Out of these incidents, 5,319 have resulted in death.

Alexis Polson is a summer intern from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, where she is a journalism major.

Tyson
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_DorothyTyson.jpgTyson

Alexis Polson

UNCP intern