The usual fun teen awards event, the Teen Choice Awards, has turned serious towards the end due to the call to support the advocacy for anti-gun violence. Jessica Alba and Ne-yo, hit the stage with a passion to raise awareness and concern for the victims and future victims of one of the country's huge problem.
According to KHOU, Alba was passionate about her introduction of the teens who were at one point or another, been victims of gun violence. "Tonight, we stand united in our call for peace. Now more than ever, we need to stop, feel and ask what's going on... Many of those impacted by these acts of violence are teens", Alba said. She introduced during the event last Sunday night, teenagers who lost loved ones in the shootings in Orlando and Newtown. One remarkable time then was when Cameron Sterling, the 15-year-old son of Alton Sterling, was introduced. Sterling has a lot to say about the violence that he himself has experienced. His dad, who was an African-American man, was fatally shot by a Baton Rouge police officer just earlier this month.
Gun violence in the U.S. come in different forms: mass shooting, school shootings, all shootings, and so forth. In 2015 there were 372 incidents of mass shootings where 475 people were killed. In the same year, 64 school shootings happened. In 2012, everyone can still remember the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre. And just early this year, the phenomenal young artist from the Voice America, Christina Grimme, was brutally shot during her own autograph signing.
The homicide rate through gun violence is so high in America. The U.S. has 60 percent higher homicide rate compared to Canada, Australia and UK. There are 300 million guns in the U.S. and about a third of the population hold these guns. How is this going to be regulated is still a huge question.
