Yoko Ono Calls for an End to Gun Violence on the Anniversary of John Lennon's Death, Says 'We Are Turning This Beautiful Country into a War Zone'

On Sunday, the 39th anniversary of singer-songwriter John Lennon's murder, his widow Yoko Ono took to social media to pay tribute to him and call for an end to gun violence in the United States.

Lennon, who was a former member of the Beatles, was a popular musical artist and activist who is perhaps best remembered for his hit song, "Imagine," released in 1971. He was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman outside of his New York City apartment on December 8, 1980 at the age of 40.

Ono, 86, who is an acclaimed musician and activist, published a pair of tweets marking the date of her husband's death and calling for a decrease in gun violence across America.

"Every day, 100 Americans are shot and killed with guns," Ono wrote. We are turning this beautiful country into a War Zone. Together, let's bring back America, the green land of Peace." Among the hashtags in her Twitter post include #endgunviolence and #guncontrolnow.

Ono also tweeted about the solemn feeling shared by her family -- including Lennon's sons Sean and Julian -- on this anniversary.

"The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience," she wrote. "After 39 years, Sean, Julian and I still miss him. Imagine all the people living life in peace."

Attached to both tweets was an image that depicted a pair of glasses worn by Lennon when he was killed--with one half covered in blood.Text above the glasses read that more than 1.4 million people in the United States were shot and killed with guns since Lennon's assassination.

Ono's claim that 100 people die of guns in America every day was corroborated by data from both the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the non-profit Everytown for Gun Safety.

Ono has previously made similar posts to the one she made Sunday in 2013 and 2016. In 2013, she shared the image, along with a short message, on Twitter. In 2016, Ono also shared the message on Facebook and Twitter.

All three posts have the same underlying message in common: gun violence in the U.S. is an issue. The number of people killed with guns since Lennon's death, as presented in the image, has grown every time Ono has shared it. The one shared in 2013 read that there were 1,057,000 gun-related deaths since the singer was killed. In 2016, it read that there had been 1.2 million since Lennon was shot.

2019 has been an unprecedented year in terms of the number of mass shootings. In fact, statistically, there has been more mass shootings in 2019 than days. As CBS News reported, by December 1, the 335th day of this year, there had already been 385 mass shootings in the nation.