Grosse Pointe Shores recognizes gun violence awareness

GROSSE POINTE SHORES — In the wake of a mass shooting that claimed the lives of two bright and promising young people with ties to the community, Grosse Pointe Shores is taking a stand against gun violence.

At the request of Grosse Pointe Shores residents Mark and Denise Neville, the Shores City Council voted unanimously May 16 to recognize June 2 as National Gun Violence Awareness/Wear Orange Day.

The council didn’t approve a proclamation, but instead voted in favor of the following language: “As a Community, The Village of Grosse Pointe Shores proclaims Friday, June 2nd as the official day to wear orange in honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Day. This encourages our neighborhoods to light up and wear orange in honor of those lives lost by gun violence in the United States.”

Mayor Ted Kedzierski recalled the Michigan State University campus shooting in February, which claimed the life of two local students — Grosse Pointe South High School graduate Brian Fraser, 20, of Grosse Pointe Park, and Grosse Pointe North High School graduate Arielle Anderson, 19, of Harper Woods.

“Certainly, we know how this community was affected (by gun violence),” Kedzierski said. “What a tragedy.”

While City Councilman Donn Schroder wasn’t opposed to the resolution, he did ask if the organization behind it — Moms Demand Action — had a political bias to it.

“I think everyone in America is in favor of (curbing) gun violence,” Schroder said.

Mark Neville said Moms Demand Action “is totally nonpartisan.”

Moms Demand Action states the same, saying that its members include gun owners as well as gun violence survivors, and that its members aren’t all mothers.

A grassroots organization, Moms Demand Action is part of Everytown for Gun Safety, said to be the largest gun violence prevention group in the nation, with almost 10 million supporters.

“It’s a 501(c)(3) organization, which tells me they’re highly regulated,” said Kedzierski, an attorney and CPA. “They can’t be engaged in political activities; they can’t be engaged in lobbying activities.”

The organization has chapters in every state, including a Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods chapter.

The Grosse Pointe & Harper Woods chapter of Moms Demand Action will host a gun violence panel discussion at 6:30 p.m. June 1 at the Ewald Branch of the Grosse Pointe Public Library, 15175 E. Jefferson Ave. in Grosse Pointe Park. For a list of speakers or more information, visit the “events” section of the Moms Demand Action website at momsdemandaction.org.

Denise Neville said the Wear Orange campaign is “to bring awareness to gun violence and gun safety.”

“The violence that happened at Michigan State, the loss of these two individuals, is traumatizing,” Denise Neville said after the meeting.