Nikki Fried joins Everytown for Gun Safety to light Ag. Dep’t buildings orange

Nikki Fried orders her office to be bathed in orange to help raise awareness of gun violence.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is joining Everytown for Gun Safety to light several Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) buildings orange throughout the weekend for gun violence awareness. 

The department will illuminate the historic Mayo Building located across from the Florida Capitol, as well as the department’s Tallahassee Regional Licensing Office, which processes concealed weapons permit applications.

On behalf of the Cabinet, I'm proud to proclaim June 4 as #GunViolence Awareness Day in the State of Florida.

I'm also proud to join with @Everytown to light these @FDACS buildings orange June 4-6 for #WearOrange weekend:

🧡Historic Mayo Building
🧡Tallahassee Licensing Office pic.twitter.com/9CHBQcL5sr

— Commissioner Nikki Fried (@NikkiFriedFL) June 4, 2021

The buildings radiated orange starting on Friday, in honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and will continue to be lit up throughout the weekend for “Wear Orange Weekend” in support of gun violence awareness.

“With so many lives lost to gun violence in the Sunshine State and around the nation, it’s important to send a message: we remain determined to see common-sense gun violence prevention reforms enacted to protect our communities,” Fried said in a news release. “As the lives of children, parents, friends, loved ones, and fellow Floridians have been cut short by firearms, we will stand strong to demand change that honors their memory. I’m proud to work with Everytown for Gun Safety to mark this occasion, which I hope will lead to reflection, persistence, and long-overdue action on gun violence.”

She also marked this year’s Gun Violence Awareness Day in a video with activist Fred Guttenberg, the parent of Jaime Guttenberg, who was killed in the 2018 Parkland shooting. 

“Please join me in demanding that our Governor, our state legislators, as well as the legislators in D.C., the House and the Senate and our President, do everything they can to save lives,” he said in a statement. “You don’t want to be the next parent doing videos like this. Please join me in demanding gun safety.”

Back in 2019, Fried requested the Capitol be lit orange to remember the 17 students and staff lost in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School attack in 2018, and distributed orange ribbons from her Capitol office in 2020.

Tomorrow, June 4, is National Gun Violence Awareness Day, when we remember lives lost to #gunviolence.

Don’t take it from me — listen to parents like @fred_guttenberg who have felt this loss first-hand.#WearOrange, reflect, persist, and demand action. @Everytown @MomsDemand pic.twitter.com/KVHvH0j7dP

— Commissioner Nikki Fried (@NikkiFriedFL) June 3, 2021

According to Everytown for Gun Safety, America’s gun homicide rate is 25 times higher than other high-income countries, and Florida is said to have had “some of the weakest gun laws in the nation.”

“Gun violence has devastated far too many families here in Florida,” Jenna Preble, a volunteer leader with the Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action, said in a statement. “This weekend, thousands of Floridians will Wear Orange because we know that gun violence is a preventable crisis, and we all must do our part to help end this terrifying epidemic.”