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