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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
PROPOSED RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING JUNE AS GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH IN COOK COUNTY
WHEREAS, gun violence is a national and local public health crisis and was declared so by the American Medical Association in 2016; and
WHEREAS, according to the 2023 Annual Report from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, gun violence rose starkly during the COVID-19 pandemic with the over 48,800 gun deaths in 2021 (over 26,000 being suicides and nearly 21,000 homicides), the highest amount of national gun deaths ever recorded; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Medical Examiner's office recorded 1,087 gun related homicides in Cook County in 2021, the first time the office has recorded more than 1,000 homicides in a year since 1994; and
WHEREAS, gun violence is connected to historic disinvestment and overwhelmingly and disproportionately impacts Communities of Color, with Black Americans being, on average, over 10 times more likely to be victims of firearm homicide than non-Hispanic white Americans; and
WHEREAS, gun violence has become the leading cause of death for children and young adults in the United States; and
WHEREAS, despite modest reductions in gun homicides, rates of gun violence remain tragically and unacceptably high-- elevated beyond pre-pandemic levels; and
WHEREAS, gun violence is preventable as research demonstrates violence prevention and community violence intervention programming can reduce involvement in gun violence for participants, save lives, and improve the underlying conditions and root causes that drive violence in our communities; and
WHEREAS, Cook County is committed to approaching gun violence as a public health crisis that demands a public health and public safety coordinated response; and
WHEREAS, Cook County has long been committed to effective, sustainable solutions to gun violence that address the root causes of community violence, meet the needs of at-risk individuals, address systemic harm and ce...
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