SENATE RESOLUTION 217--EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE DESIGNATION OF JUNE 7 THROUGH JUNE 9, 2019, AS ``NATIONAL GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS WEEKEND'' AND JUNE 2019 AS ``NATIONAL GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH''; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 85
(Senate - May 21, 2019)
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[Page S3011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE RESOLUTION 217--EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE DESIGNATION OF JUNE 7
THROUGH JUNE 9, 2019, AS ``NATIONAL GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS WEEKEND''
AND JUNE 2019 AS ``NATIONAL GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH''
Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Booker, Mr. Blumenthal,
Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Harris, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Markey, Mr.
Murphy, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. Van Hollen) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:
S. Res. 217
Whereas, each year in the United States, more than--
(1) 36,000 individuals are killed and 100,000 individuals
are injured by gunfire;
(2) 12,000 individuals are killed in homicides involving
firearms;
(3) 22,000 individuals commit suicide by using firearms;
and
(4) 500 individuals are killed in unintentional shootings;
Whereas, since 1968, more individuals have died from guns
in the United States than have died on the battlefields of
all the wars in the history of the United States;
Whereas, by 1 count, in 2018 in the United States, there
were--
(1) 340 mass shooting incidents in which not fewer than 4
people were killed or wounded by gunfire; and
(2) 103 incidents in which a gun was fired in a school or
college;
Whereas gun violence typically escalates during the summer
months;
Whereas nearly 2,900 children and teens are killed by gun
violence every year;
Whereas more than 6,300 people in the United States under
the age of 25 die because of gun violence annually, including
Hadiya Pendleton, who, in 2013, was killed at 15 years of age
in Chicago while standing in a park;
Whereas, on the first weekend of June 2019, to recognize
the 22nd birthday of Hadiya Pendleton, people across the
United States will recognize National Gun Violence Awareness
Weekend and wear orange in tribute to--
(1) Hadiya Pendleton and other victims of gun violence; and
(2) the loved ones of those victims; and
Whereas June 2019 is an appropriate month to designate as
``National Gun Violence Awareness Month'': Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) supports--
(A) the designation of June 2019 as ``National Gun Violence
Awareness Month'' and the goals and ideals of that month; and
(B) the designation of June 7 through June 9, 2019, as
``National Gun Violence Awareness Weekend'', in remembrance
of the victims of gun violence; and
(2) calls on the people of the United States to--
(A) promote greater awareness of gun violence and gun
safety;
(B) wear orange, the color that hunters wear to show that
they are not targets, on June 7 through June 9, 2019;
(C) concentrate heightened attention on gun violence during
the summer months, when gun violence typically increases; and
(D) bring community members and leaders together to discuss
ways to make communities safer.
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