HR0830 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0830 LRB099 14849 GRL 39021 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and the nation at large has seen a horrid outbreak of gun violence, seen daily on the streets of Chicago and other major cities and tragically spotlight in Tucson, Arizona, Denver, Colorado, Sandy Hook, Connecticut, Roanoke, Virginia, and Roseburg, Oregon; and

WHEREAS, The citizens of the major cities of our State and our nation see killings on the order of these highly publicized mass murders on a regular basis; and

WHEREAS, Today, there are enough privately owned guns in the United States of America to arm every man, woman, and child; and

WHEREAS, The fallout of the Great Recession of 2008 is still being felt in many parts of this country, where there are foreclosed homes and businesses, abandoned properties and vacant lots, and a desperate need for economic development; and

WHEREAS, In Illinois, we see high levels of unemployment and broad declines in healthcare, deteriorating infrastructure, and shrinking pensions and retirement savings as workers in all fields of education, healthcare, and public safety are laid off as a result of a financial crisis they did not create; and

WHEREAS, In 1967, the report of the Kerner Commission stated that "To pursue our present course will involve the continuing polarization of the American community and, ultimately, the destruction of basic democratic values. The alternative is not blind repression or capitulation to lawlessness. It is the realization of common opportunities for all within a single society"; and

WHEREAS, Since 1980, cities, states, and the nation have asked our citizens to Just Say No, recognize A Thousand Points of Light, and pass Three Strike laws and have preached Zero Tolerance, but the violence continues unabated; and

WHEREAS, The City of Chicago has seen a year of gun violence among the worst in the history of the City, with 400 people killed, a 15% increase over the previous year; on average, a person is shot every 2.8 hours; and

WHEREAS, Unemployment in the neighborhoods of Chicago and other inner cities is at 30% or higher, with limited economic opportunities and underserved, overcrowded, and technologically outdated schools; and

WHEREAS, As a State, we need to find new strategies and tactics and come up with solutions that protect our citizens from the scourge of gun violence, recognizing that enacting the same policies that we have passed the last half century and expecting different results is, by definition, insanity; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge President Barack Obama to call for a national conference on gun violence to be held by the end of 2015 in Chicago, with participants that include, but are not limited to, the United States Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Labor, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Education, leaders of the private sector, elected officials at the city and state levels, members of our law enforcement community, and citizens who are organizing in their communities; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be delivered to the President.