2022-23 - Gun Violence Awareness Month

Home Browse Search

RESOLUTION NO.2022-23 BY: A RESOLUTION to take effect immediately provided it receives the affirmative vote of at least two thirds of the members of Council, or otherwise to take effect and be in force after the earliest period allowed by law, declaring June to be National Gun Violence Awareness Month in the City of Lakewood to honor and remember all victims and survivors of gun violence and to declare that we as a country must do more to reduce gun violence. WHEREAS, every day, more than 110 Americans are killed by gun violence, alongside more than 200 who are shot and wounded, and on average there are nearly 16,000 gun homicides every year; and WHEREAS, Americans are 26 times more likely to die by gun homicide than people in other high -income countries; and WHEREAS, Ohio has an average of 1675 gun deaths every year with the rate of gun deaths increasing 44% from 2011 to 2020 in Ohio compared with a nationwide increase of 33%; and WHEREAS, in 2020 guns jumped to the number one leading cause of death among children in the United States replacing auto accidents as the leading cause of death; and WHEREAS, gun homicides and assaults are concentrated in cities, with more than half of all firearm related gun deaths in the nation occurring in 127 cities; and WHEREAS, cities across the nation, including Lakewood, are working to end the senseless violence with evidence -based solutions; and WHEREAS, protecting public safety in the communities they serve is mayors' highest responsibility; and WHEREAS, mayors and law enforcement officers know their communities best, are the most familiar with local criminal activity and how to address it, and are best positioned to understand how to keep their citizens safe; and WHEREAS, gun violence prevention is more important than ever as the COVID- 19 pandemic continues to exacerbate gun violence after more than two years of increased gun sales, increased calls to suicide and domestic violence hotlines, and an increase in city gun violence; WHEREAS, in January 2013, Hadiya Pendleton was tragically shot and killed at age 15; and on June 3, 2012 to recognize the 25th birthday of Hadiya Pendleton (born: June