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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, In the United States, gun violence is a public | ||||||
3 | health epidemic of enormous scope; violence, particularly gun | ||||||
4 | violence, is a major public health problem and a leading cause | ||||||
5 | of premature death; gun violence is the number one cause of | ||||||
6 | death for children in the United States; on average, 110 | ||||||
7 | people are killed every day in the United States by gun | ||||||
8 | violence; and
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9 | WHEREAS, The U.S. experienced a record number of gun | ||||||
10 | deaths and gun sales in 2020; 45,222 people died from | ||||||
11 | gun-related injuries in the U.S., and gunshot wounds were the | ||||||
12 | leading cause of death for kids and teens under 19 years of | ||||||
13 | age; and
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14 | WHEREAS, When a child is shot and killed, decades of | ||||||
15 | potential are lost, including the potential to grow up, to | ||||||
16 | have a family, to contribute to society, and to pursue their | ||||||
17 | passions in life; in 2018, firearm deaths accounted for | ||||||
18 | 919,185 years of potential life lost before the age of 65; this | ||||||
19 | total of potential years lost is more than the combination of | ||||||
20 | years lost by diabetes, strokes, and liver disease; and
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21 | WHEREAS, The cost of gun violence takes a large toll on the | ||||||
22 | economy; Harvard Medical School researchers found that gun |
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1 | violence costs the U.S. approximately $557 billion annually or | ||||||
2 | 2.6 percent of gross domestic product; and
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3 | WHEREAS, Gun violence costs Illinois $18.6 billion each | ||||||
4 | year, including $625.5 million of which is paid by taxpayers; | ||||||
5 | Illinois has the 40th highest societal cost of gun violence in | ||||||
6 | the U.S. at $1,468 per resident each year; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Gun violence disproportionately affects the Black | ||||||
8 | community; gun violence affects all children, but children of | ||||||
9 | color are at greatest risk; most shooting deaths go | ||||||
10 | unmentioned in national discourse and continue to | ||||||
11 | disproportionately impact Black communities; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Young Black men are 20 times more likely to be | ||||||
13 | killed by a gun than young white men; between 2019 and 2020, | ||||||
14 | gun deaths and homicides increased by 39.5 percent among Black | ||||||
15 | people, and Black men ages 15 to 34 were more than 20 times as | ||||||
16 | likely to be killed with a gun than white men of the same age; | ||||||
17 | the number of Black women killed by guns also increased by 50 | ||||||
18 | percent in the same time period; and
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19 | WHEREAS, In 2019, Black Americans represented 14 percent | ||||||
20 | of the nation's population yet accounted for 52 percent of all | ||||||
21 | homicide victims; in 2019, Illinois was second in the entire | ||||||
22 | nation among states for Black homicide victimization rate; and
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1 | WHEREAS, A Black person's life expectancy on average is | ||||||
2 | less when compared to a white person's life expectancy; when | ||||||
3 | comparing life expectancy in Chicago's Austin neighborhood to | ||||||
4 | the Chicago Loop, there is a difference of 11 years between | ||||||
5 | Black life expectancy of 71 years and white life expectancy of | ||||||
6 | 82 years; and
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7 | WHEREAS, The devastation gun violence inflicts on Black | ||||||
8 | teens and adults is a crisis that should be a top priority for | ||||||
9 | policymakers; a critical part of ending the gun violence | ||||||
10 | epidemic will involve reducing homicides in the Black | ||||||
11 | community; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Wrap around services are needed to address the | ||||||
13 | impact of gun violence and prevent future gun violence; | ||||||
14 | medical care, including safety net hospitals, mental health | ||||||
15 | treatment, including inpatient and outpatient behavioral | ||||||
16 | health, affordable housing, economic empowerment such as jobs, | ||||||
17 | childcare, and cultural awareness, and nutrition, including | ||||||
18 | access to healthy and affordable food, education, and public | ||||||
19 | safety are the basic essentials of a quality life; services | ||||||
20 | must be accessible, and education and awareness efforts about | ||||||
21 | available services must be offered; and
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22 | WHEREAS, Many violence and gun violence prevention |
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1 | programs and services are in existence, including trauma | ||||||
2 | centers, wrap around services, family resource centers, RPSA, | ||||||
3 | R3-ICEJA, coordinated care for various co-morbidities, medical | ||||||
4 | treatment, mental health crisis, public health crisis, burial | ||||||
5 | assistance, and grantee income programs; these programs and | ||||||
6 | services make up a significant investment in public safety and | ||||||
7 | trauma recovery in the 2023 budget; with all of this in place, | ||||||
8 | violence and gun violence are still at public health crisis | ||||||
9 | levels, and more must be done; therefore, be it
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10 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
11 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
12 | as the General Assembly works to ban assault weapons it should | ||||||
13 | also endeavor to provide victim services before and after acts | ||||||
14 | of violence; and be it further
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15 | RESOLVED, That the General Assembly should strive to | ||||||
16 | provide consistent appropriation for State agencies to provide | ||||||
17 | support systems that wrap around the basic essentials of life | ||||||
18 | and reduce violence occurring in communities; and be it | ||||||
19 | further
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20 | RESOLVED, That this approach to violence and gun violence | ||||||
21 | needs to be addressed through a comprehensive approach and a | ||||||
22 | lens of equity that includes but is not limited to | ||||||
23 | communications and messaging, education and training, |
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1 | treatment and counseling, grantee income programs, trauma | ||||||
2 | centers and family resource centers, affordable housing and | ||||||
3 | healthcare, community engagement and leadership, outreach and | ||||||
4 | awareness, and wrap around services and community health | ||||||
5 | workers; and be it further
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6 | RESOLVED, That the General Assembly herein voices its | ||||||
7 | support for continued appropriations intended to stem the | ||||||
8 | ever-rising incidents of violence in Illinois, including but | ||||||
9 | not limited to medical and mental health services, training | ||||||
10 | and education, trauma informed treatment and care, economic | ||||||
11 | investments for victims of gun violence and their families, | ||||||
12 | and communications messaging on how to access resources.
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