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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
IN SUPPORT OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION’S RCOGNITION OF GUN VIOLENCE AS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS AND CALLING ON CONGRESS TO ALLOW THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL TO RESEARCH GUN VIOLENCE
WHEREAS, according to the most recent statistics, firearms caused 32,888 deaths in the United States; and
WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), the U.S. has the highest rates of childhood homicide, suicide and firearm-related deaths among industrialized countries; and
WHEREAS, the residents of Cook County are still mourning the 49 people killed and 53 people injured by a single terrorist using a firearm in the early morning hours of June 12, 2016, in Orlando, Florida; and
WHEREAS, the epidemic of gun violence this year in Cook County has claimed 323 lives to date; and
WHEREAS, in 2014 there were 595 gun related deaths in Cook County, and 457 of those deaths were ruled to be homicides by the Office of the Medical Examiner of Cook County; and
WHEREAS, on January 16, 2013, in response to the growing epidemic of gun deaths, President Barack Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum directing the CDC to conduct or sponsor research into the causes of gun violence and strategies to prevent it; and
WHEREAS, for 20 years through legislative action, the United States Congress has blocked any funds for the CDC to sponsor or conduct research into the causes of gun violence and strategies to prevent it; and
WHEREAS, the American Medical Association (“AMA”), the largest professional association of physicians in the United States, recently recognized that “uncontrolled ownership and use of firearms, especially handguns, is a serious threat to the public's health, inasmuch as the weapons are one of the main causes of intentional and unintentional injuries and deaths”; and
WHEREAS, the AMA joined the American College of Physicians and the American College of Surgeons in recognizing that gun violence is a public health crisis.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Cook County Board of Commissioners commends the action of the American Medical Association in officially recognizing that gun violence is a public health crisis; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Cook County Board of Commissioners joins with the AMA in urging the United States Congress to change its 20-year policy of barring the CDC and other federal agencies from conducting or sponsoring research into the causes of gun violence and how to prevent it; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be presented to the members of the Congressional delegation from Illinois and the American Medical Association.
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