WNBA’s Connecticut Sun Unveils Custom “Knotted Gun” Sculpture at Center Court

Custom-Designed Connecticut Sun “Knotted Gun” Sculpture Revealed as WNBA Participants Join in Unified Hand Gesture of “Knot Me!”

June 6, 2025 – UNCASVILLE, CT One of the world’s most-renowned peace symbols, the Non-Violence “Knotted Gun” sculpture, adorns the entrance to the United Nations as a permanent, compelling monument. For National Gun Violence Awareness Month, a unique and stirring interpretation of the art in team-theme was presented today by the Non-Violence Project to the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun at center court during a contest with the Atlanta Dream at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Additionally, the evening provided the spotlight on a new hand gesture calling for a national ceasefire to gun violence, a flash of fingers simulating the “Knotted Gun.” Attendees unified for a collective demonstration of “Knot Me!” - the first crowd display of the gesture in a call for America, and influencers across pop culture in the entertainment, arts and sports spaces, to do the same. The gesture originated in Non-Violence Project workshops in New York City schools and coincides with the online campaign #ICANENDGUNVIOLENCE, an appeal for individual agency within the greater gun violence-prevention movement.

National Gun Violence Awareness Month provides a stage to not only educate on the disturbing statistics and conditions leading to violence and self-harm, but the tools and means for individuals to mitigate the problem within their own lives. The WNBA and Connecticut Sun boldly embraced the call as the Non-Violence Project, among other organizations committed to education and empowerment, took center court, including the Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus and GVPedia.

The Connecticut Sun has a long tradition embracing gun violence prevention across New England and its avid fan base. The moment provided an exceptional opportunity to elevate the importance in addressing a public-health crisis claiming over 40,000 American lives annually and ranked today as the number-one cause of death for youth and children in the country. Suicide by firearms continues to ravage society, impacting adolescents and veterans to senior citizens. Youth isolation, depression and self-harm are of particular concern as well as the prevalence of campus and online bullying. The Non-Violence Project is actively and creatively mitigating the trends. Studies indicate where the NVP Schools for Peace exercises are put into practice violence is reduced, on average, 30-70 percent.

“Non-Violence Project Artist Ambassadors to date include such cultural icons as Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the late Muhammad Ali,” John McKenna, Executive Director of the Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus and Country Director to the Non-Violence Project USA said. “However, the WNBA is a fitting space to amplify the message today. Women are consistently leading the way on the violence-prevention fronts, so it is altogether appropriate the WNBA and Connecticut Sun be given this honor.”

The sculpture was painted by award-winning illustrator Jess Goldsmith, selected for her talent and commitment to the issue. Goldsmith founded Women of Type, a platform of over 100,000 people advancing the creativity of women and nonbinary artists in the typography and lettering industry across the globe.

“This is a united, collective shout-out to America to flash the ‘Knot Me!’ gesture. It is a quick, positive and self-empowering expression which counters the countless aggressive, negative and destructive messages we are subjected to across America today,” McKenna added. “It’s an effective and readily available action. When we flash the knotted gun we are also saying, ‘I Can End Gun Violence’ – and it is an invitation to believe in it and do something about it – in one simple, friendly flash.”

About the Non-Violence Project

• As a memorial tribute to John Lennon, the Non-Violence sculpture, or “Knotted Gun,” readily became globally recognized and replicated for exhibition in cities worldwide; the central symbol for peace and non-violence at the entrance to the United Nations, it is estimated today over 1 billion people, or one in six people on the planet, have had some interaction with the symbol, physically or virtually
• Founded in 1993 as a public-benefit organization promoting social change through raising awareness and delivering social-emotional and educational exercises to reduce violence in society, the mission is changing the mentalities and behaviors that lead to violence and abuse through its Schools for Peace program
• To date over 10 million students and teachers have been instructed and trained in non-violence principles, reducing violence by 30-70 percent in communities where the project is applied, as published in the annual Evaluation Reports
• Launched in 2022, the Why Knot NY?initiative is a campus-based, student-driven curriculum offered to New York City high schools across all five boroughs, applying conflict-resolution, peace-building and violence-prevention principles, culminating in the youth creating their own interpretations of the “Knotted Gun”
• Artist-Ambassadors have included Muhammad Ali, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr who have designed their personal interpretations of the “Knotted Gun;” the organization has been hailed by President Barack Obama as “one of the best youth education programs in the world” and recognized with The President’s Call to Service Award and The Outstanding Leader Award.

About the Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus

• For 17 years, the campaign (KGOC) has been a national leader educating and providing support for safe campus environments by opposing the introduction and potential harm from the presence, access and use of concealed firearms in all levels of education
• Serving campus climates coast to coast, the organization fosters collaborative networks through community engagement to amplify local voices stimulating state-level programs and actions, ultimately advancing gun violence prevention nationwide
• Through comprehensive education, the mission promotes effective initiatives, projects and communications to keep guns off campus and safeguard the educational experience for all.

About the “Knot Me!” Hand Gesture

• Originated and popularized by students engaged in Non-Violence Project’s Schools for Peace/Why Knot? workshops in USA, the hand gesture, or “flash,” simulates the “knotted gun” and signals the aim in checking one’s impulses and the promotion of peace versus the counter opposite: aggressive behavior and spontaneous acts of harm and violence
• Multiple acts of opposite gestures, simulating the shooting of guns, have been popularized in American culture (including on collegiate and professional sports platforms) leading to admonishment and public shaming; the “Knot Me!” gesture in an invitation to demonstrate a positive alternative across popular culture and society writ large.