Tampa advocates call for change on gun violence during Wear Orange Weekend

TAMPA, Fla. - Advocates against gun violence in Tampa gathered downtown for Wear Orange Weekend on Friday afternoon.

The goal is to wear orange to draw attention to gun violence and the harm it does to communities.

Nationwide movement 

The backstory:

It started in 2013 when Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed in a park in Chicago. After learning about her death, her friends wore orange, the same color hunters wear for safety, to draw attention to gun violence and her death.

It turned into a nationwide movement with Moms Demand Action. The Tampa chapter organized Friday's event.

Tampa gun violence awareness

What they're saying:

"I fight for other people so that they don't have to wear their children on their shirts," D'Andra Todd said. "This is what I do now. This is who I am. It's not what I'd do. It is who I am."

Todd is a leader with Moms Demand Action in Tampa. She found herself here after she lost her son, Edward Sean Aiken, to gun violence seven years ago.

"Losing him pushed me to become the advocate," Todd said.

Many at the Tampa event were there advocating for loved ones they lost.

Tihesha Pritchard lost her son Nathaniel to gun violence three years ago.

"I got the call from the coroner's office that I needed to identify my child," Pritchard said. "And no parent should ever have to go through that."

Fran Fate joined years ago to support the cause, and then she lost her cousin, Datravion Williams, to gun violence last month.

"I joined Moms Demand Action approximately eight years ago as a supporter," Tate said. "Now I am a card-carrying member of that club and I hate it."

Families demand solutions and action

Future violence prevention

Big picture view:

This movement wants kids to learn conflict resolution using their words and not weapons.

"It's okay to walk away from an argument. It doesn't make you weak," Pritchard said. "It doesn’t mean that you're not valid. Actually, it takes a bigger person to walk away."

Call for solutions

Dig deeper:

Moms Demand Action is calling for change and consequences.

"We have got to vote," Pritchard said. "Yes, this is great, but, you know, power [is] in numbers."

"To all of you that are selling guns at the trunk of your cars, let's prosecute you," Tate said.

"I think that we need more policing because we have too much violence going on in our city right now," Todd said."

Each person in the movement wants to remember their family member while preventing these tragedies for other families.

"He's not just an African American male," Pritchard said. "He was my child; he was my baby. And just like any other child, they deserve the chance to grow up."

"Community wake up. It's me today," Tate said. "It might be you tomorrow that's suffering through the loss of a family member to gun violence."