TODAY: Gun Violence Prevention Rally In Takoma Park

TAKOMA PARK, MD — Friday was National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and the Maryland Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America will host a rally in Takoma Park Saturday.

The rally is meant to honor the lives taken by gun violence, and Americans across the country will wear orange Friday "to send the powerful message that there is more we can do to end gun violence," according to a Main Street Takoma post.

June 3 is a day dedicated to Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old girl who was shot in the back while standing with friends in a park in Chicago in 2013. Pendleton was killed one week after performing at events for President Barack Obama's second inauguration, and Obama mentioned her death in his 2013 State of the Union Address in Congress. Her friends wore orange to honor her death.

This family-friendly celebration ran by Maryland Moms Demand Action will feature Mayor Kate Stewart and other speakers, an "orange photo booth," an "orange" art project for kids and more. Some officers with the Takoma Park Police Department will be in attendance, wearing orange, to talk with residents about gun violence.

“The Takoma Park Police isn’t taking a stance against the right to bare arms nor are we anti-guns,” Tyrone Collington, acting police chief for the Takoma Park Police Department, told Montgomery Community Media. “Our goal is to educate our community in an effort to reduce the number of accidental shootings by toddlers, young people and unauthorized individuals who used guns to kill and commit crimes against law abiding citizens across this country.”

Nearly 200 national monuments across the country will turn orange to honor Pendleton and other victims, including the Empire State Building, Niagara Falls and Golden Gate Bridge.

The Takoma Park rally will be held at the Gazebo at 7035 Carroll Ave. from 1-3 p.m. Saturday.

Click here to find out more about the Wear Orange project.

Photo: City of Takoma Park Twitter