Recognizing June 2nd as Gun Violence Awareness Day in The City of Philadelphia.

WHEREAS, Gun violence poses a serious and ongoing threat to public safety and welfare, both nationally and in Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control, in their most recently published data, found that nearly 40,000 people had been killed with guns in 2017, the highest rate of gun-related deaths in 40 years; and

WHEREAS, In 2018, Philadelphia Police reported 2307 incidents of aggravated assault with a firearm, a 5% increase from 2017. Moreover, while the rate of violent crime has been steadily decreasing in Philadelphia in recent years, gun violence has risen. The homicide rate in 2018 was the City’s highest since 2007 and represented an 11% increase from 2017. An estimated 83 percent of homicide victims are killed with a firearm; and

WHEREAS, Announcing a joint federal, state, and local task force aimed at combatting illegal guns in Philadelphia in August 2018, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms reported that more than 10,000 illegal firearms had been seized in Pennsylvania during the last year alone, and that an average of 4,000 illegal firearms are seized in Philadelphia each year. The proliferation of illegal guns is a major contributor to the City’s gun violence; and

WHEREAS, Gun violence causes a broad range of devastating collateral consequences for shooting survivors, their families, friends, and communities. Those consequences include post-traumatic stress, permanent physical disability, and death, along with lost wages and unemployment, medical costs, foreclosures and homelessness, and community destabilization; and

WHEREAS, The cost of each hospitalization resulting from gun violence results in nearly a half million dollars in direct costs. The cost of each murder is nearly six million dollars in negative economic impact; and

WHEREAS, It is imperative for this Council and the citizens of Philadelphia to focus attention on the issue of gun violence and how it directly affects our community. Indeed, experience indicates that intensive and sustained community-wide commitment to gun-violence prevention is necessary to make progress in this area; and

WHEREAS, All Philadelphians deserve to live their lives free of gun violence and the fear thereof. Moreover, the well-being of the City’s youth and their families is of paramount importance to Philadelphia’s future prosperity. Safety is a foundational requirement of that well-being; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby designates June 2, 2019 as Gun Violence Awareness Day in the City of Philadelphia.

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