Declaring gun violence a public health crisis.

IV 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 348 Declaring gun violence a public health crisis. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 2, 2023 Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. NORTON, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. TITUS, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. BROWN, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. FROST, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. CROCKETT, and Mr. BOWMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce RESOLUTION Declaring gun violence a public health crisis. Whereas gun violence remains the leading cause of death for children and adolescents in the United States, according to the latest mortality data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Whereas there have been at least 2,069 school shooting inci- dents in the United States since 1970, causing 684 fa- talities and 1,937 injuries, according to the Naval Post- graduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Se- curity; VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR348.IH HR348 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HRES 348 IH Whereas more than 349,000 students in the United States have experienced gun violence at school in the time since the Columbine shooting occurred in 1999; Whereas, on April 16, 2007, 33 people were shot and killed at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia; Whereas the United States has experienced hundreds of pub- lic mass shootings in churches, schools, concerts, and movie theaters, including— (1) on August 5, 2012, when 6 people were shot and killed at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin; (2) on December 14, 2012, when 27 individuals, in- cluding 20 children, were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut; (3) on June 17, 2015, when 9 Black Americans were shot and killed at the Emanuel African Methodist Epis- copal Church in Charleston, South Carolina; (4) on December 2, 2015, when 14 people were shot and killed at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California; (5) on June 12, 2016, when 49 individuals, 90 per- cent of whom were Hispanic, were shot and killed at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in what is consid- ered the deadliest attack on LGBTQ+ people in United States history; (6) on September 16, 2013, when 12 people were shot and killed at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Sys- tems Command inside Washington Navy Yard in South- east Washington, DC; (7) on October 1, 2017, when 58 people were shot and killed and 546 others were injured in Las Vegas, Ne- vada, in what is known to be the deadliest mass shooting in United States history committed by a single individual; VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR348.IH HR348 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HRES 348 IH (8) on November 5, 2017, when 27 people were shot and killed at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas; (9) on February 14, 2018, when 17 students and staff were shot and killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida; (10) on October 27, 2018, when 11 people were shot and killed at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; (11) on August 3, 2019, when 23 people were shot and murdered during an act of domestic terrorism in El Paso, Texas, considered one of the deadliest attacks on a Hispanic community in modern American history; (12) on May 14, 2022, when 10 Black Americans were shot and killed in a racially motivated rampage at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York; (13) on May 24, 2022, when 19 students and 2 teachers were shot and killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas; (14) on January 21, 2023, when 11 Asian Ameri- cans were shot and killed at Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California; (15) on March 27, 2023, when 6 elementary school students and staff were shot and killed at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee; (16) on April 10, 2023, when 5 people were shot and killed at Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky; and (17) on April 15, 2023, when 4 young people were shot and killed at a birthday celebration in Dadeville, Alabama; Whereas in the United States— VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR348.IH HR348 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HRES 348 IH (1) every day, 120 people are shot and killed, and more than 200 are shot and wounded at the hands of a gun; (2) 44,340 people died from gun-related injuries in 2022; (3) the gun homicide rate is at least 26 times higher than in other high-income countries; (4) 54 percent of gun-related deaths were suicides in both 2020 and 2021; (5) there were at least 646 mass shootings in 2022 where 4 or more people were shot or killed in a single incident involving a gun; (6) there have already been more than 173 mass shootings in 2023 where 4 or more people have been shot or killed in a single incident involving a gun; and (7) 61 active shooter incidents led to over 100 deaths in 2021, a 52.5-percent increase from 2020, ac- cording to the most recently available data from the Fed- eral Bureau of Investigation; Whereas, in an average year, at least 10,300 hate crimes in- volve a firearm in the United States, which is more than 28 every day; Whereas communities of color are disproportionately im- pacted by gun violence; Whereas neighborhoods suffering from gun violence are the same areas that lack economic opportunity, adequate in- frastructure, access to quality schools, and housing op- portunities; Whereas, every month, an average of 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner; VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR348.IH HR348 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HRES 348 IH Whereas intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem, and instances of severe physical violence and vi- olence inflicted with a firearm are predominantly experi- enced by women with male partners; Whereas, in 2015, 92 percent of all firearm deaths among women in high-income countries occurred in the United States; Whereas 16 percent of gay and lesbian youth, 11 percent of bisexual youth, and 29 percent of transgender youth have been threatened or injured with a deadly weapon on school property, including guns, according to a Youth Risk Behavior Survey published by the Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention; Whereas, in 2016, the American Medical Association adopted its policy calling gun violence in the United States ‘‘a public health crisis’’ requiring a comprehensive public health response and solution; Whereas, in 2016, the American Medical Association Presi- dent noted that ‘‘with [tens of thousands of] men, women and children dying each year at the barrel of a gun in elementary schools, movie theaters, workplaces, houses of worship and on live television, the United States faces a public health crisis of gun violence’’; Whereas, in 2018, the American College of Physicians issued a position paper detailing how ‘‘firearm violence con- tinues to be a public health crisis that requires the na- tion’s immediate attention’’; Whereas, in 2019, a study by Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine found that more United States school-age children die from guns than on-duty United States police or global military fatalities; VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR348.IH HR348 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HRES 348 IH Whereas the American Public Health Association finds that gun violence is a leading cause of premature death in the United States; Whereas, in 2019, Black children and teens had the highest gun death rate, followed by American Indian and Alaska Native children and teens; Whereas, in 2020, guns became the leading cause of death for children in the United States, a trend which has con- tinued in all years that have followed; Whereas, in 2021, the Governor of New York declared gun violence a public health emergency; Whereas, in 2021, the mayor of Washington, DC, declared gun violence to be a public health crisis and announced a whole-of-government approach to combating this crisis; Whereas, in 2021, the Governor of Illinois declared gun vio- lence a public health crisis; Whereas, in 2022, 6,171 children aged 0 to 17 were injured or died as a result of gun violence; Whereas, in January 2022, city officials in Cincinnati, Ohio, declared gun violence a public health crisis; Whereas, in February 2022, the mayor of Columbus, Ohio, declared gun violence a public health crisis; Whereas, in June 2022, the Guilford County Commissioners in North Carolina declared gun violence a public health crisis; Whereas a public health crisis is defined as meeting 4 cri- teria— (1) the condition affects many people, is seen as a threat to the public, and is continuing to increase; (2) the condition is distributed unfairly; VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR348.IH HR348 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HRES 348 IH (3) preventive measures could reduce the effects of the condition; and (4) those preventive measures are not yet in place; Whereas gun violence meets the criteria of a public health crisis; Whereas, in 1979, the Surgeon General identified violent be- havior as a key public health priority; Whereas, in 1992, the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention established the National Center for Injury Pre- vention and Control as the lead Federal organization for violence prevention; Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention out- lines a 4-step public health approach to violence preven- tion, rooted in the scientific method, which requires offi- cials to— (1) define and monitor the problem; (2) identify risk and protective factors; (3) develop and test prevention strategies; and (4) assure widespread adoption; Whereas a Federal public health crisis declaration defines gun violence as a pervasive health issue and alerts the Nation of the need to enact immediate and effective cross-governmental efforts to prevent gun violence; and Whereas such declaration requires the response of the Gov- ernment to engage significant resources to empower those communities that are impacted: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) declares gun violence a public health crisis 2 in the United States; 3 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR348.IH HR348 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HRES 348 IH (2) supports the resolutions drafted, introduced, 1 and adopted by cities, localities, and States across 2 the Nation declaring gun violence a public health 3 crisis or emergency; 4 (3) urges a coordinated whole-of-government ef- 5 fort to addressing the gun violence public health cri- 6 sis and ensuring the safety of all children; 7 (4) urges the Centers for Disease Control and 8 Prevention to continue its work utilizing the 4-step 9 public health approach to violence prevention and 10 collaborate with other Federal Government agencies 11 to resolve the gun violence public health crisis; 12 (5) urges the Centers for Disease Control and 13 Prevention to expand its research and data collection 14 capabilities pertaining to gun violence prevention; 15 (6) urges the Surgeon General to issue a report 16 on firearm injuries and violence prevention; and 17 (7) commits to ending the gun violence public 18 health crisis so that all people can enjoy life, liberty, 19 and the pursuit of happiness. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 May 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR348.IH HR348 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB