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On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attended a memorial on the National Mall featuring 40,000 flowers that represent the Americans who die from gun violence each year.
Rows and rows of white bouquets arranged on the National Mall this week honor victims of gun violence.
The Gun Violence Memorial includes 40,000 silk flowers, representing the number of Americans who die from shootings every year.
Xinhua/Liu Jie via Getty Images
A photo taken on April 13, 2021 shows 40,000 white silk flowers installed on the National Mall to honor the nearly 40,000 Americans who die every year from gun violence in Washington, D.C., the United States.
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Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif., attend a news conference to highlight the importance of federal action on gun safety, at a Gun Violence Memorial on the Mall on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
A U.S. Capitol Police officer stands guard during a news conference to highlight the importance of federal action on gun safety, at a Gun Violence Memorial on the mall on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
Xinhua/Liu Jie via Getty Images
A photo taken on April 13, 2021 shows 40,000 white silk flowers installed on the National Mall to honor the nearly 40,000 Americans who die every year from gun violence.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Eight-year-old Marie Claire Manrique walks on April 13, 2021 through an art installation of 40,000 silk flowers on the National Mall placed in memory of the 40,000 Americans who die from gun violence each year.
Carol Jean Photography
A sign near the memorial honors people killed in Washington, D.C.
Carol Jean Photography
Signs line the memorial.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
An art installation of 40,000 silk flowers is displayed on the National Mall placed in memory of the 40,000 Americans who die from gun violence each year April 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Gabby Giffords Foundation initiated the art installation open to the public through Friday.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), who resigned from Congress due to a traumatic brain injury suffered during an assassination attempt, talks with reporters in front of an art installation of 40,000 silk flowers representing the number of Americans killed each year due to gun violence April 14, 2021.
The memorial was unveiled by Giffords, former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' anti-gun violence group. Giffords survived being shot in the head in Tucson in 2011. Six people were killed and 12 others were hurt.
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In remarks on the National Mall Wednesday morning, Giffords called for federal action on gun safety.
“We are at a crossroads. We can let the shootings continue or we can act,” she said.
Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is visiting the memorial to gun violence that her organization created on the National Mall. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House and Senate members joined her this morning to push for stronger gun control legislation. @nbcwashingtonpic.twitter.com/lh8FeoZXsU
The memorial was designed by Doug Landry, who designed the COVID-19 memorial installation on the National Mall last year. It is meant to serve as “a tribute to the many lives that have been lost to gun violence, a testament to the strength and courage of survivors, and a plea to our elected officials to pass universal background checks and other lifesaving gun safety legislation in the Senate,” the group Giffords said in a statement.
The Gun Violence Memorial will be up for public viewing until the afternoon of Friday, April 16.
