A vigil was held at Mission Hills United Methodist Church on Saturday afternoon to honor the thousands of lives lost to gun violence.
This vigil, organized by Team ENOUGH San Diego and San Diegans for Gun Violence Prevention, honored the lives lost in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and all the mass shootings that have happened since. It also served as a call to action to end gun violence.
"For too many of today's youth, this journey has been brutally cut short by the relentless scourge of gun violence in our country,” one speaker said.
With remarks, hymns and candles in hand, dozens gathered inside the church.
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"We have to take action — this is an issue that keeps happening,” Stephen Baker with Team ENOUGH said.
One of the most recent mass shootings happened earlier this week at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where a gunman killed three faculty members and injured another.
Baker said it’s a reality that has become far too common for this generation. He lost a friend in a shooting.
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"I can't let my friend's memory just fade away. It's an issue that we have to be tackling on every front,” Baker said.
Tahlia Fisch was in second grade when her school went into lockdown because someone on the street had a gun.
She said that scary experience led her to advocate for not only her safety, but the safety of others.
"It's not a political issue. It's just an issue of protecting our lives and staying safe,” Fisch said.
According to Gun Violence Archive, this year alone, more than 40,000 people have lost their lives to gun violence. Of those, 278 were children and more than 1,300 were teenagers. This includes suicides, mass shootings, domestic violence and gang violence.
“Let us light the candles to illuminate our world because far too many times lights go out. May these lights lead us to victory and peace, and let us take these lights into the world,” Baker said.
Congresswoman Sara Jacobs said the solution is not so simple, but change is happening gradually.
"I am working every single day to make sure that we pass the legislation that we need at the federal level to keep our community safe,” Jacobs said.
Many say change is not coming soon enough.
“We have to take action. This issue keeps happening,” Baker said.
The vigil comes as we near the 11th year since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, where 26 people were killed.
