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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
ACKNOWLEDGING INTERGOVERNMENTAL EFFORTS TOWARDS GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION & JUNE AS GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION MONTH
WHEREAS, a national coalition of organizations has designated the first Friday in June as National Gun Violence Awareness Day, in honor of Hadiya Pendleton, a teenager from Chicago who was shot and killed in 2013, as well as the many other gun violence victims and survivors, commemorating this day by wearing orange; and
WHEREAS, the American Medical Association (AMA) declared firearm-related violence a public health crisis in 2016 due to its status as a leading causes of intentional and unintentional injury and death in the United States, and continues to advocate for common sense polices, laws and resources that reduce gun violence; and
WHEREAS, the United States has significantly higher gun homicide and suicide rates than all other high-income countries; and
WHEREAS, in 2020, the most recent year for which complete CDC data is available, 45,222 people died from gun-related injuries in the United States, the highest number of gun deaths ever in the U.S.; which includes gun homicides (19,384), gun suicides (24,292), and other types of gun-related deaths tracked by the CDC: unintentional (535), involving law enforcement (611) and undetermined cause (400); and
WHEREAS, nationally, firearm homicides increased by 35% in 2020; and
WHEREAS, gun violence has devastating consequences for young people and is now the leading cause of death among children, teens, and young adults under the age of 25; and
WHEREAS, gun violence is a complex problem fueled by systemic issues including historic disinvestment and structural racism, segregation, lack of access to healthcare, economic opportunity; and
WHEREAS, these systemic issues disproportionally impact communities of color; and
WHEREAS, Black males under the age of 35 are over 20 times more likely to be a victim of gun homicide than white males of the same age; and
WHEREAS, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office, 90% of the total homicides in 2021 were carried out with guns, accounting for a devastating 1,005 gun homicides in Cook County; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, Cook County Health’s Stroger Hospital cared for nearly 1,100 patients with gunshot wounds, and spends an average of $30,000-50,000 to treat a single victim of gun violence, amounting to an annual expenditure of $30 - 40 million in initial hospital treatment, not including extensive outpatient rehabilitation and mental health care many patients require; and
WHEREAS, gun violence is cyclical, resulting from and causing psychological trauma for individuals and entire communities which is why victims injured by violence are among those most at risk for future injury, death or involvement in gun violence, highlighting the need for trauma-informed solutions that help break this cycle of violence; and
WHEREAS, gun violence is preventable and Cook County and partners at the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago have each committed historic amounts of funding through the American Rescue Plan Act, as well as corporate funding, for gun violence prevention and complementary supportive programming for at-risk residents that is evidenced based and effective in reducing community violence; and
WHEREAS, the State of Illinois and City of Chicago have joined Cook County in collaboratively planning for the implementation and evaluation of grant programs to maximize the impact of funding for violence prevention programs in the region; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Justice Advisory Council is presenting the first awardees of the Cook County Gun Violence Prevention and Reduction Grant, a Safe and Thriving Communities American Rescue Plan Act Initiative, for approval to the Cook County Board of Commissioners on this day of June 16, 2022; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the President and the Cook County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of the more than 5.2 million residents of Cook County, do hereby take this opportunity to acknowledge National Gun Violence Awareness Day, which took place on June 3, 2022; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in response to increased levels of gun violence experienced nationally and locally since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cook County leaders will continue to bring awareness and devote resources to emerging and evidence-based gun violence prevention strategies and advocate for gun safety measures; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Cook County leadership will continue to coordinate with state and city partners in response to high levels of gun violence and work collaboratively to implement equitable and effective solutions that improve community safety; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this text be shared during the official proceedings of this Honorable Body in recognition of Gun Violence Awareness Month.
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