Fourth of July Weekend was Once Again One of the Deadliest Days for Gun Violence

On a long weekend when families gathered to enjoy fireworks and festivities, they were instead met with terror—at least 17 mass shootings occurred, with 18 killed, 102 injured, and 27 young people shot. 

New York, NY — March For Our Lives and our youth members are outraged and heartbroken as our communities reel from the violence over the long Fourth of July weekend, historically one of the most dangerous days for gun violence in the year. This weekend was no different. In Baltimore, 2 people were killed and 28 were injured at a block party. In Philadelphia, 5 people were killed and 2 were injured, including a 2-year-old and a 13-year-old. In Fort Worth, Texas, 3 people were killed and 8 were injured. And across the country, once again, children and young people are bearing the weight of this crisis—with 27 young people shot, and countless more now traumatized for life because of what happened to their families and communities.

A year after the shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, where 7 people were killed and nearly 50 people were injured, the violence on the Fourth of July holiday weekend underscores that Americans will never be truly free until we are safe from gun violence. This is the America young people are inheriting, but it is not an America we will accept.

We are demanding that our leaders take action on the gun violence epidemic. We are simply signing away death warrants the longer we wait, or come up with excuses. March For Our Lives will not stop fighting for action until gun violence is obsolete. To all those lost, rest in power.

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