SD4GVP and the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego held a remembrance on December 15, 2024, for loved ones lost and for all victims of gun violence.
The service included time to honor and remember victims and survivors. Following the service, we held a sage blessing of an altar on which attendees had placed photos of loved ones lost to gun violence.
Many thanks to Liz and Carlos Muñoz from Jr’s Trauma Care Initiative for facilitating the altar and blessing.
This marked the twelfth year that we have joined Newtown Action Alliance’s nationwide vigils. When 20 children and six educators were shot to death on December 14, 2012, at Sandy Hook Elementary School, we promised we would never forget. The annual remembrance now includes thousands more — victims of homicide, suicide, domestic violence, community violence and unintentional shootings.
As observed by Emily Baumgaertner in her article, “What’s Killing Kids?” “But guns were at the center of it all, replacing car crashes as the leading killer of kids. Gun deaths alone accounted for almost half of the increase in young people. They are now equivalent to 52 school buses of children crashing each year” (emphasis ours).
Learn more about the history of the Annual National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence. We hope to see you at our annual remembrances.