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1		HOUSE RESOLUTION
2		WHEREAS, According to recent estimates, firearm use led to
3		the deaths of nearly 34,000 Americans, including: 21,175
4		suicides, 11,208 homicides, 505 deaths due to accidental
5		discharge of a firearm, and 281 deaths due to the undetermined
6		intent of firearm usage; these totals include: 1,117
7		Illinoisans who died through firearm usage, including: 576
8		homicides, 496 suicides, 18 unintentional deaths, 16 legal
9		interventions, and 11 through undetermined intent; and
10		WHEREAS, The number of shooting victims in the City of
11		Chicago in 2015 totaled 2,988, and to date in 2016 it stands at
12		1,523; with more deaths occurring every month in 2016 when
13		compared to the same period of 2015; and
14		WHEREAS, According to a recent study by the American
15		Journal of Medicine, Americans are 10 times more likely to be
16		killed by guns than people in other developed countries; and
17		WHEREAS, According to the advocacy group Be Smart for Kids,
18		every year, at least 100 children aged 17 and under die in
19		unintentional shootings and 400 children die from suicide
20		because guns are not safely stored; and
21		WHEREAS, On January 16, 2013, following the tragedy at

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1		Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut and in
2		response to the growing epidemic of gun deaths, President
3		Barack Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum directing the
4		Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct or
5		sponsor research into the causes of gun violence and strategies
6		to prevent it; and
7		WHEREAS, Since 1996, the United States Congress has blocked
8		any funds for the CDC to sponsor or conduct research into the
9		causes of gun violence and strategies to prevent it; and
10		WHEREAS, On June 14, 2016, the American Medical Association
11		(AMA), the largest professional association of physicians in
12		the United States, recognized that "uncontrolled ownership and
13		use of firearms, especially handguns, is a serious threat to
14		the public's health, inasmuch as the weapons are one of the
15		main causes of intentional and unintentional injuries and
16		deaths"; and
17		WHEREAS, The AMA joined the American College of Physicians
18		and the American College of Surgeons in recognizing that gun
19		violence is a public health crisis; therefore, be it
20		RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
21		NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
22		urge the members of the 114th Congress to appropriate funding

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1		to allow the CDC to recognize and study gun violence as a
2		public health crisis; and be it further
3		RESOLVED, That we commend the action of the American
4		Medical Association in officially recognizing gun violence as a
5		public health crisis requiring action by the federal
6		government; and be it further
7		RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
8		delivered to President Barack H. Obama, Speaker of the United
9		States House of Representatives Paul D. Ryan, House Minority
10		Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell,
11		Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, and CDC Director Dr. Tom
12		Frieden.