Portland, Maine’s vigil was attended by about 70 people. A number of organizations sponsored the event including the faith and medical communities. We also had “Silent Witness” cutouts to help us remember those who have died from gun violence. We held our vigil at noon which was accompanied by the ringing of church bells and the City Hall bell. We lit a single candle and opened with a prayer for all faiths. Two very brave women who were victims of gun violence spoke about their experiences. Dayna was attacked where she worked and said her son saved her life as she tried to protect him (she was 17-weeks pregnant) with her arm. The bullet passed through bone, muscle, and tissue coming out harmlessley on the other side. Judi, the mother 25-year-old Darien who was shot two years ago to the very day, spoke from her heart about her daughter and the shooting. She was comforted by Rev. Jill Saxby from the Maine Council of Churches. There was not a dry eye in the crowd. Speakers talked about the ease with which guns can be obtained by those who should not have them. We also heard from the director of a domestic violence shelter about the dangers of guns related to domestic violence. We closed with a moment of silence. Many in the crowd stayed and talked and hugged. It really was an amazing experience. Thanks go to Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence, States United Against Gun Violence, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Maine Medical Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility Maine Chapter, Boys to Men, Family Crisis Services, Peace Action Maine, and Maine Council of Churches. In attendance as well were representatives of Temple Bet Ha’am in Portland and Million Mom March Maine Chapter.

The people killed in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, 2011 were among the 98,000 men, women and children shot in America every year. In California, more than 7,700 people are shot each year. Since the Tucson incident, there have been three mass shootings in California – Cupertino, Seal Beach and Los Angeles (Irwindale) — where a total of 16 people were killed and 12 wounded. On January 6th, a candlelight vigil was held in Walnut Creek. The event was organized by the Contra Costa Brady Campaign Chapter and the Peace and Justice Center.

Click here for television coverage of the vigil.

Gun violence prevention advocates gathered at Grace Episcopal Church in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to honor those who have died from handgun violence. We particularly remembered the ten who died in 2011 in Lawrence, with ten candles burning in the memorial we constructed. In the chilly night air people stopped to ask about our vigil and to thank us for this work. Handgun violence remains a serious problem for this Immigrant City in 2012, as we remember and celebrate the centeniary of the Bread and Roses strike, a first in the labor movement in the twentieth century.

The crowd at St. Norbert Church in Northbrook, Illinois, was silent and reflective as the names of recent victims of violence were read. The reading of names was interspersed with messages from Fr. Bob Heinz of St. Norbert Catholic Church; Rev. John Berg of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church; Rev. Mike Nevling of Village Presbyterian Church; Imam Adnan Balihodzik of Islamic Cultural Center; Rev. Lee Gaede, of St. Giles Episcopal Church; Rabbi Sidney Helbraun of Temple Beth-El; Mark Walsh of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence; and Lee Goodman of the Northbrook Peace and Justice Committee. The event was organized by the North Suburban Million Mom March Chapter.

On a cold but actually for Duluth, Minnesota, mild day, 75 hearty people showed up to remember victims of gun violence. Three T.V. stations also showed up to hear our stories. We rang our bell for the victims of the Tucson shootings. We rang our bell for the Minnesota Police Officer, Shawn Schneider, who was killed while intervening in a domestic dispute. We rang the bell for Tarrell Mayes, a 3 year old Minneapolis boy who was trying to hide in his home from gunshots outside only one of the stray bullets hit him in the head. We rang the bell for daughters who had been shot to death. We rang the bell for a brother, for an uncle for the daughter of a friend, for veterans who are increasingly killing themselves and others. I rang the bell for my sister. A new friend rang the bell for her sister who was shot 18 months ago in a domestic shooting similar to my own sister’s. There were children in the group. There were community leaders, including the director of Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs (DAIP) who rang the bell for the victims of domestic abuse who, when killed, are most often killed with guns. A retired Deputy Police Chief rang the bell for officers lost to a bullet. There was a County Board member, a School Board member, a candidate for Congress, several ministers, many friends, and many people who had never attended one of our events before. But attend they did. It was a moving event and it hopefully shed light on our national problem of too many victims of gun deaths and injuries. Someone suggested that we have an event like this once a year on the first Sunday after the New Year. Maybe we should.

VIDEO: MORE COVERAGE from FOX 21 News

Historic Shiloh Baptist Church was host to a major vigil ceremony in Washington, D.C. The event, organized by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, featured a number of special guest speakers including Mayor Vincent C. Gray, Del. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Rep. Jim Moran and Brady Campaign Acting President Dennis A. Henigan among other noted speakers. The crowd also heard moving words from Nardyne Jeffries, who lost her 16-year-old daughter in a March 2010 mass shooting in Washington, DC; William Kellibrew, who lost a mother and brother in a shooting when he was 10; and Colin Goddard, who survived being shot four times at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007.

In addition to the audience in attendance at the church, viewers across the world has access to the ceremony as the event was streamed live over the Internet.

Chicago was the scene of several Too Many Victims Candlelight Vigils on Sunday, January 8th. At New Beginnings Church of Chicago, where Rev. Corey B. Brooks is Senior Pastor, both Sunday morning services were devoted to prayers for parents and families who have lost loved ones to gun violence. Pastor Brooks’ work in the church’s south side Chicago neighborhood is bring positive attention to the community. Paster Brooks has been involved in a determined vigil of his own atop a dilapidated hotel that he wants to tear down and replace with a community center.

More than 100 people gathered this afternoon at Am Shalom in Glencoe, Illinois, to light candles in memory of the 20 people who were killed or injured last January 8 in Tucson, Arizona. Rabbi Steven Stark Lowenstein lead the program. The name of each victim was read. The impact of that horrible day was described by Susan Sholl of Glencoe as she described her realization that a friend of hers had been shot three times and had been the woman who brought Christina-Taylor Green, the young girl who was killed, to hear Congresswoman Giffords. Glencoe Public Safety Director, Chief Mike Volling spoke about violence in the North Shore area.

After a screening of the movie “The Interrupters” (members of the cast and crew are pictured left), Cobe Williams, one of the inspiring Chicago young adults featured in the movie, spoke about working with people on the edge of violence and the challenges we face as a society to reduce violence by dealing with problems such as broken homes, joblessness, and a lack of productive activities in which young people can participate.

Members of Beth Shir Shalom and the Los Angeles Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence held a vigil in Santa Monica at the corner of 20th & Wilshire where supporters carried signs and photos of their loved ones.

Fifty people honored victims of gun violence in Niles Chapel of the Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, NJ on Sunday. Co-sponsored by the Mercer County Million Mom March Chapter, Coalition for Peace Action, Fellowship in Prayer, and the Trenton NAACP Branch, the candlelight vigil included clergy from the Fellowship, Nassau Presbyterian, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, family members of local gun violence victims, gun violence prevention activists, and other concerned citizens.
After the vigil, the attendees signed Close the Gun Show Loophole cards which are being gathered by the NJ Million Mom March for presentation to their Congressional Representatives. Many stayed afterward to discuss future collaboration with the MMM.

Nearly 200 people attended the Remembrance of Life event at the Church of the Ascension in Minneapolis. Zuki Ellis of Protect Minnesota spoke movingly of the loss of her brother, and the lasting grief of that loss. When it came time to hang a photo of a lost loved one on the Remembrance of Life tree, a line extended far down the center aisle. Each person spoke the name of a loved one and hung a photo on the Remembrance of Life tree, as a bell rang for each victim of gun violence. From Death to Life/Two Mothers healing group members explained the stages of grief and asked friends and community members to “speak the name of our child” to be of comfort to a bereaved family. Not hearing the name of the lost loved one is what hurts the most, said Mary Johnson, the group’s founder. MADDADS president V.J. Smith urged the community to get involved to stop the violence. Attendees committed themselves to help with violence prevention efforts and signed a petition urging legislators to support prevention by keeping guns out of the wrong hands.

Friends and family gathered tonight at the farm in Conowingo, Maryland, to remember Christina Taylor Green, and the other victims of January 8th, 2011 in Tucson. Aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors and friends all stopped by to offer their support to the Green Family. It was a quiet, peaceful evening, and we were honored to have such wonderful people come and share some time tonight. Christina will not be forgotten.

WFMZ-TV reports from Reading, PA: A group from Reading got together Sunday afternoon to hold a vigil for victims of gun violence over the past year.

The group remembered the victims of the Arizona shootings that happened a year ago and also paused to remember those killed or injured by gun violence in Reading and nationwide.

Reading Mayor Vaughn Spencer was on hand for the event.

He said it’s important the city works toward getting illegal firearms off of the streets.

“There’s just been too many lives lost over the past two decades here in our city related to hand guns and illegal firearms that are being used,” said Spencer. “The hand guns that are in our streets, just unacceptable.”

Spencer said its important for city residents to be vigilant in getting the illegal guns off the streets.

The event was organized by CeaseFirePA and the Brady Campaign.

The Seattle TImes reports:
Everyday he goes to work in the Longworth House office building in the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Jim McDermott walks by the office of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords — just five doors down the hall.

“It was on a day like this she was out having a community meeting, out in the open in Tucson and just like this event, she exposed herself to a young man who clearly had serious problems,” McDermott told a small gathering at Westlake Plaza Sunday.

“The reason we are here today is to tell the stories of real people like you and I who have been wiped out by this plague” he said. “This is an extremely serious issue that can affect all of us.”

Read the full text at The Seattle Times.

More than 100 people gathered today at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles to remember those lost to gun violence in Tucson and throughout the United States. Mourners remembered their lost loved ones, bells rang, and candles were lit and then extinguished in memory of all those who have died. The event was hosted by Women Against Gun Violence and the California Brady Chapters.