WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Safety Net is a community outreach organization dedicated to reducing the number of handguns in circulation through public safety education and
gun turn-ins
carried out under the supervision of the Philadelphia Police Department; and
WHEREAS, To date, the Philadelphia Safety Net has collected 6,127 guns off the streets of Philadelphia, through its signature, "
Goods For Guns
" gun exchange events, potentially preventing thousands of fatalities in homes across Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, In addition to fatality prevention, Philadelphia Safety Net has provided over $250,000 in grocery vouchers to hundreds of Philadelphians during these very difficult economoic times and conducted Firearm Safety Workshops for 233 Philadelphia School children; and
WHEREAS, During the "state of emergency" in Chester, Pennsylania in 2010, the Philadelphia Safety Net was asked by the Mayor of Chester to help organize and conduct
"Goods For Guns"
gun exchange events in an effort to help reduce the number of homicides; and
WHEREAS, Gun safety continues to be of critical importance. The statistics in a recent study featured in
New England Journal of Medicine
found that homowners who own guns are likely to be killed in their home, with that gun, because of an argument with a spouse, family member, or recent acquaintance. This aspect of gun safety is also part of the mission of the Philadelphia Safety Net; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Safety Net's workshops about the dangers of guns have also targeted at-risk populations including former offenders in its effort to make Philadelphia safer and less violent; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby honors the Philadelphia Safety Net for its outstanding efforts in hand gun violence prevention and intervention activities in urban neighborhoods.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Ray Jones, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Safety Net, as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.
End