| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, Every day, more than 120 Americans are killed by | ||||||
3 | gun violence, and more than 200 are shot and wounded, with an | ||||||
4 | average of more than 17,000 gun homicides every year; and
| ||||||
5 | WHEREAS, Americans are 26 times more likely to die by gun | ||||||
6 | homicide than people in other high-income countries; and
| ||||||
7 | WHEREAS, Protecting public safety in the communities they | ||||||
8 | serve is among a legislator's highest responsibilities; and | ||||||
9 | WHEREAS, Support for the Second Amendment rights of | ||||||
10 | law-abiding citizens goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns away | ||||||
11 | from people that should not have them; and | ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, Gun violence prevention is more important than | ||||||
13 | ever as there has been an increase in firearm homicides and | ||||||
14 | nonfatal shootings across the country, an increase in calls to | ||||||
15 | domestic violence hotlines, and an increase in city gun | ||||||
16 | violence; and | ||||||
17 | WHEREAS, In January of 2013, Hadiya Pendleton was | ||||||
18 | tragically shot and killed at the age of 15; to acknowledge her | ||||||
19 | 26th birthday, people across the United States will recognize | ||||||
20 | National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2, 2023 and wear |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | orange in tribute to Hadiya Pendleton and other victims of gun | ||||||
2 | violence as well as
the loved ones of those victims; and | ||||||
3 | WHEREAS, The idea was inspired by a group of Hadiya | ||||||
4 | Pendleton's friends who asked their classmates to commemorate | ||||||
5 | her life by wearing orange; they chose this color because | ||||||
6 | hunters wear orange to announce themselves to other hunters | ||||||
7 | when out in the woods and because orange is a color that | ||||||
8 | symbolizes the value of human life; and
| ||||||
9 | WHEREAS, Anyone can join this campaign by pledging to wear | ||||||
10 | orange on June 2nd, the first Friday in June of 2023, to help | ||||||
11 | raise awareness about gun violence; and
| ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, By wearing orange on June 2, 2023, Americans will | ||||||
13 | raise awareness about gun violence and honor the lives of gun | ||||||
14 | violence victims and survivors; and
| ||||||
15 | WHEREAS, To help keep families sand communities safe, it | ||||||
16 | is of the utmost importance to make a commitment to reduce gun | ||||||
17 | violence, to pledge to do all that is possible to keep firearms | ||||||
18 | out of the hands of people who should not have access to them, | ||||||
19 | and to encourage responsible gun ownership; therefore, be it
| ||||||
20 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
21 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | we declare June 2, 2023 as "Gun Violence Awareness Day" in the | ||||||
2 | State of Illinois; and be it further | ||||||
3 | RESOLVED, That we encourage all citizens to support their | ||||||
4 | communities' efforts to prevent the tragic effects of gun | ||||||
5 | violence and to honor and value human lives.
|