Sobering memorial to victims of gun violence in Philadelphia region

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- This summer has been a violent one.

New statistics show that in Pennsylvania, someone dies from gun violence every six hours.

A tribute to victims nationwide has traveled here to Philadelphia. It's the first stop on its tour, and it is both shocking and sobering.

The memorial is now on display next to the Liberty Bell on Independence Mall.

One thousand seven hundred vases are filled with flowers to honor the 1,700 lives lost to gun violence in Pennsylvania last year. That's up 10% and rising daily.

SEE ALSO: 3 officers in Philly region shot in seven days, more fired upon

In the past seven days in the Philadelphia region, at least three law enforcement officers have been shot in the line of duty. That does not include officers fired upon who were not wounded.

"Stopping gun violence takes courage, the courage to do what's right, the courage to have new ideas," says former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

"I saw great courage when my life was on the line. Now is the time to come together and be responsible," said Giffords.

After her own brutal attack, she founded the nonprofit Giffords to help save lives from gun violence.

They organized a Gun Violence Memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C. with 40,000 flowers, for each victim in the U.S.

Families impacted by gun violence say this memorial is about healing and action.

"I stand today in honor that we are work working together and walking together, and that this memorial of flowers brings some peace for a moment for people who have a lifetime of pain," says Chantay Love-Mason, the co-founder of Every Murder is Real (EMIR) Healing Center. "I say we can do this. We can fix this as a community."

Giffords is also fighting for universal background checks and more funding for life-saving violence intervention programs.