Senator Richard Blumenthal and actress Melissa Joan Hart were among several speakers who addressed a crowd of people clad in orange in front of Edmond Town Hall at the third annual #WearOrange walk and rally, on the evening of Friday, June 2.

The Wear Orange initiative was started by friends of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago high school student who was shot and killed one week after she performed with her high school marching band at President Barack Obama's second inauguration, in 2013.

People around the country wear orange - the color hunters wear to protect themselves while in the woods - on June 2, Ms Pendleton's birthday, to honor victims of gun violence.

Newtown's event, coinciding with National Gun Violence Awareness Day, began with more than 200 people walking from Fairfield Hills, along Mile Hill Road, and then onto Main Street, before reaching their destination of Edmond Town Hall. They gathered there to listen to speakers talk about gun reform and their personal experiences with gun violence.

Kicking off a lineup of speakers, First Selectman Pat Llodra encouraged the crowd to take action.

"We must raise our voice, be noticed, and be heard. Or, we become complicit in perpetuating a society in which guns are used all too often to harm, to maim, to threaten, and to kill. I am looking to see the moral outrage take hold and complacency decline," said Mrs Llodra.

"We should never give up hope. We're not going away. We're not giving up and we will break the grip of the NRA on Congress," Senator Richard Blumenthal declared, speaking from the podium.

Po Murray, chairman of Newtown Action Alliance, encouraged the crowd to call Congress to support gun reform.

"We are so thankful that there are so many movers and change makers right here in Newtown and in Connecticut," Ms Murray said. "We must vote out congressional reps who side with the NRA and the NSSF. Let's work to vote them out," she urged, as the crowd took up the chant, "Vote them out!"

Introduced by former Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Abbey Clements, Melissa Joan Hart, who starred in the sitcoms Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Melissa & Joey, served as the keynote speaker. Ms Hart, a resident of Westport, is a member of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and the Everytown for Gun Safety Creative Council.

She teared up as she talked about her experience of hearing about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.

"That was my moment. That was when I decided it wasn't good enough to send my prayers and hope it doesn't happen to me. It was time for me to speak out and get involved," she said.

Ms Hart said most people are surprised to hear that she is a Republican who is not pro-gun.

"What I am is pro-family, and that means keeping our children safe and ensuring that they have the opportunity to grow up some day," she said.

Other speakers included Mark Barden, Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, Yvonne Crasso, Tom Campbell, and Reverend Sam Saylor, all family members of people killed by gun violence. Jonathan Perloe, director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence; Conor Pfeifer, the director of operations of the Triangle Community Center, Fairfield County's LGBTQ community center; Tommy Murray and Jackson Mittleman, co-chairs of Junior Newtown Action Alliance at Newtown High School; and Abbey Clements, who is also the survivor engagement lead with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, also shared their thoughts.

Throughout the event, the speakers expressed frustration with roadblocks and slow progress in Washington, as well as sadness for the loss of their loved ones and other victims of gun violence. Despite this, the speakers and the crowd all remained enthusiastic and optimistic, often clapping intermittently during the speeches.

Mary Carbonell, a Newtown resident who attended the rally, said she has become more politically active since the election of President Donald J. Trump.

"I think he will side with the gun lobbyists and the NRA," she said.

James Holcomb, an intern with Newtown Action Alliance, also attended the rally.

"I'm here to help in any way I can, as well as support gun violence awareness," he said.

In addressing the crowd, Mr Barden, the father of Daniel, one of the 26 people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on 12/14, said he was discouraged because progress has been made more difficult by the new presidential administration.

"It just seems like a race to the bottom. But we're going to fix that, right?" Mr Barden asked, turning to Senator Blumenthal.

Sen Blumenthal smiled and gave the crowd a double thumbs up.

The ringing of bells to honor the 26 lives lost on 12/14 concluded the rally.

Nearly 200 similar Wear Orange events occurred around the country on June 2, according to wearorange.org.