Today marks the eleventh anniversary of National Gun Violence Awareness Day and begins Wear Orange Weekend. This day and weekend are part of National Gun Violence Awareness Month, which promotes education and action to end gun violence.

Starting today and continuing each Friday in June, the health department’s Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention (CDIP) will recognize National Gun Violence Awareness Month with a series of blog posts about gun violence as a public health issue. This series will discuss public health concepts, gun violence topics, and CDIP projects and citywide coalitions to reduce violence.

About this blog series

The series has three main goals:

  1. introduce public health concepts related to gun violence
  2. educate and spread awareness with facts about gun violence
  3. describe the health department’s actions to prevent violence

By series end, you’ll understand the public health approach to reducing and preventing gun violence.

The current state of gun violence

At this time last year, the U.S. Surgeon General declared gun violence an urgent public health crisis. Across the nation last year, 31,409 people were injured and another 16,576 people were killed by guns. Nationally, these numbers increased during the pandemic and started decreasing in 2022. Since 2022, numbers continue to fall in Philadelphia, which follows the national trend.

We measure gun violence by tracking firearm-related injuries and deaths. In Philadelphia in 2022, 2,270 people were victims of shootings; in 2024, 1,105 people were victims. Last year, among all major U.S. cities, Philadelphia saw the largest drop in gun violence. In 2024, homicides in Philadelphia dropped 43 percent and shootings fell to their lowest level in over a decade.

Nationally, though gun violence continues to decline in 2025, rates are still higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, gun-related injuries have become the leading cause of death for children and teens.

For more data, charts and trends on firearm violence and factors impacting health, visit the health department’s Injury Prevention Dashboard. An Atlas of American Gun Violence provides national firearm data in other formats.

Collaborating to reduce and prevent gun violence

The public health approach to prevent gun violence requires collaboration. We can’t do this work alone. The City is committed to violence reduction strategies that include better data tracking, improving factors contributing to violence, and building partnerships between government, hospitals, and community organizations. The City’s violence prevention efforts cut across sectors, including behavioral health services, crisis response, victim services, housing, and education.

We use strategies focusing on long-term improvements to violence prevention that include:

What can you do?

Join us each Friday in June as our blog series explores gun violence as a public health issue and describes actions we are taking to reduce and prevent violence in Philadelphia.

Wear orange to honor survivors of gun violence and build community and join us in observing Gun Violence Awareness Month today, tomorrow, and next week at these violence prevention-related events:

June 6, Toll the Bell: A Cry for Peace

  • 12:15 p.m., Interfaith Vigil Service, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
  • 12:55 p.m., Reflective Walk, from Annenberg Center to Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, 19 S. 38th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
  • 1 p.m., Sound Installation, bells toll at more than 45 locations throughout the city and beyond
  • 1:15 p.m., Echos: Shattered Flesh and Breathless Souls, a commissioned work on the devastating impact of gun violence, performed by sacred jazz vocalist and composer Ruth Naomi Floyd, Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral

June 7, Toll the Bell: A Cry for Peace

  • 2 p.m., Encore Performance of Echos: Shattered Flesh and Breathless Souls by Ruth Naomi Floyd, and two commissioned works, Omar’s Blues and On Our Way, a Celebration of Life, by musical collective Omar’s Hat, Tindley Temple United Methodist Church, 750 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146

June 7

  • 7 a.m. to 12 p.m., Black Men’s Wellness Day, Temple University Aramark Student Training and Recreation Complex, 1816 N. 15th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19121
  • 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Wear Orange Cleanup Day, 61st and Thompson Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19125
  • 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wear Orange Peace Walk and Block Party, Martin Luther King Park, Engle Street, Chester, PA 19103

June 9 – 13, JustUs Ideas Week

  • JustUs Ideas, a week dedicated to reshaping society’s approach to justice, Community College of Philadelphia, programs, locations, dates, and times at justusideas.org

June 11, Intercultural Faith Services (IFS) Hope Symposium on Gun Violence Prevention

  • 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., From Awareness to Action: Shaping a Safer Tomorrow, Temple University Howard Gittis Student Center, 1755 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122

June 12, Grief Speaks

  • 7 to 8:30 p.m., Grief Speaks, Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network (PAAN) monthly virtual support group, second Thursday of each month, Zoom link available by texting name and email address to 267-210-3035

Be sure to join us on Friday, June 13, for the second part of our four-part blog series. Together, with education and action, we can stop gun violence in Philadelphia.

Learn more about gun violence and Philadelphia's Injury Prevention Program.