GUN VIOLENCE MEMORIAL


The Gun Violence Memorial is coming to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to remember victims of gun violence and inspire the #CourageToAct. These 1,700 vases represent the number of Pennsylvanians who died from gun violence last year.

Open to the public through Thursday, August 26, 2021.

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SOMEONE DIES IN PENNSYLVANIA EVERY SIX HOURS FROM GUN VIOLENCE

That’s 1,700 people last year. To honor this preventable loss of life, we’ve installed 1,700 vases of flowers in downtown Philadelphia.


The Gun Violence Memorial is open for public viewing. We encourage you to visit, reflect, and urge your elected officials to take action.

Independence Mall
Philadelphia
August 23–August 26

DEDICATE A FLOWER

Add your name to dedicate a flower at the Gun Violence Memorial on Independence Mall and join Giffords in the fight to end gun violence.

JOIN US

A PLACE TO REMEMBER & REFLECT

Every flower is a life that could be saved. We’re visiting Philadelphia to commemorate victims of gun violence in Pennsylvania and inspire the #CouragetoAct.

In April, Giffords installed a memorial on the National Mall in Washington DC with 40,000 flowers representing the number of Americans who die from gun violence each year. This summer, the Gun Violence Memorial is coming to Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

Giffords will host press events and leadership will meet with community partners, local officials, and activists. Residents will have the opportunity to visit the memorial, dedicate a flower, and learn more about the fight to end gun violence.

No state or community in the United States is safe from gun violence—nearly every American will know a victim of gun violence at some point in their lifetime. This memorial will visualize that reality in a bold and unique way that refuses to be overlooked or ignored.

A PLACE TO INSPIRE ACTION

We can save lives from gun violence, but only if we have leaders with the courage to act.

Gun violence impacts every community in Pennsylvania in tragic and preventable ways. But instead of taking action to address this crisis, state lawmakers have refused to take any meaningful action, ignoring the violence that is hurting Pennsylvanians every day. However, there are steps that can be taken in Washington. Senator Toomey can demonstrate his support for gun safety by supporting universal background checks and the Break the Cycle of Violence Act now.

We calculated gun violence rates in 2020 based on preliminary data, and the data is clear: gun violence is on the rise. 1,700 Pennsylvanians lost their lives to gun violence last year. That’s a 10% increase over the previous year.

Pennsylvania

On average, someone is killed with a gun every 6 hours in Pennsylvania.
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1,574
gun deaths per year
31st
HIGHEST GUN DEATH RATE
12.0
Gun Deaths per 100K RESIDENTS

Pennsylvania–Gun Deaths by Intent

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Pennsylvania

gun SUICIDE

Guns are the most common means of suicide in Pennsylvania—50% of suicides in the state involve guns.

An average of 978 people die by gun suicide in Pennsylvania each year, representing 62% of all gun deaths.

Pennsylvania–Gun Suicide Rate over Time

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Pennsylvania

GUN HOMICIDE

The majority of homicides in America involve firearms. In Pennsylvania, 76% of homicides are committed with guns.

An average of 558 people are killed in gun homicides in Pennsylvania each year, representing 35% of all gun deaths.

Pennsylvania–Homicides with Guns vs. Other Means

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Pennsylvania

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Guns make domestic violence incidents far more likely to end in death. Firearms are used in 52% of intimate partner homicides in Pennsylvania.

From 2014 to 2018, 153 people in Pennsylvania were shot and killed by an abusive partner. 82% of those killed were female.



Pennsylvania–Intimate Partner Homicides with Guns vs. Other Means

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KIDS & GUNS

Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in Pennsylvania. 

From 2015 to 2019, 312 children under 18 were killed with a gun in Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania–Gun Deaths by Intent for Children under 18

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Pennsylvania

RACIAL DISPARITIES

In Pennsylvania, Black people are 20.2 times more likely to die of gun homicide than white people.

White people in Pennsylvania are 2.6 times more likely to die of gun suicide than Black people.

Pennsylvania–Gun Death Rates by Race

Use the dropdown menu to see how rates vary by intent.

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Pennsylvania

LEARN MORE

State-level data comes from the CDC and the FBI. See our full methodology for more information.

States with the strongest gun laws generally have less gun violence. Background checks, extreme risk laws, and violence intervention programs are crucial to saving lives. Explore Pennsylvania’s gun laws in depth.

PLEDGE TO FIGHT GUN VIOLENCE

Stand with Gabby Giffords and join our efforts to make our country safer from gun violence. It takes all of us to fight fear and despair with courage and action.

Gun Violence Memorial Partners

Thank you to our dedicated partners for joining us in honoring the 1,700 Pennsylvanians who lost their lives to gun violence last year. We admire the lifesaving work you do day in, day out. 

Ceasefire PA

CeaseFirePA is dedicated to ending the epidemic of gun violence in Pennsylvania. The CeaseFire team connects partners, holds legislators accountable, honors the stories of survivors and organizes with those on the ground to pass policies that will make everyone safer. https://www.ceasefirepa.org/

South Pittsburgh Coalition for Peace

The South Pittsburgh Coalition for Peace (SPCP) was founded in 2005 in conjunction with several community grassroots organizations, local service providers and faith-based institutions in response to a shooting death of a high school student. The SPCP and its providers seek to build communities that are peaceful and nurturing by offering relevant workshops and events to its members, other organizations and the South Pittsburgh community at-large. The Coalition does aggressive community outreach through the South Pittsburgh Peacemakers component, targeting active gang members, shooters and violent offenders, which is in partnership with the Group Violence Intervention Initiative (GVI), City of Pittsburgh. http://southpittsburghcoalitionforpeace.org/

EMIR Healing Center

Based in Philadelphia, EMIR Healing Center (Every Murder is Real) services and supports family members and friends who have been affected by homicide. Survivors of a violent death have to contend with a totally different set of circumstances than someone who has experienced a “natural” death. EMIR guides survivors through the many feelings they will experience and the legal ramifications that are inevitable. EMIR offers concrete, practical, and compassionate steps towards healing. emirphilly.org

CONTRIBUTE A REMEMBRANCE OBJECT

If you have lost an immediate family member to gun violence, our friends at the Gun Violence Memorial Project invite you to contribute an object in memory of your loved one. They seek to create a permanent, national memorial that honors the lives and narratives of victims of gun violence.

Learn More

OUR WORK

Giffords is fighting every day to build a safer America, free from the fear of gun violence.