8998-18 Declare June 1st National Gun Violence Awareness Day

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RESOLUTION NO. 8998 -18 BY: Anders9n, Bullock, George, Litten, O'Leary, O'Malley, Rader. A RESOLUTION declaring the first Friday in June to be National Gun Violence Awareness Day in 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, 96 Americans are killed by gun violence and on average there are nearly 13,000 gun homicides every year; and WHEREAS, Americans are 25 times more likely to be killed with guns than people in other developed countries; and WHEREAS, protecting public safety in the communities they serve is mayors' highest responsibility; and WHEREAS, support for the Second Amendment rights of law- abiding citizens goes hand -in -hand with keeping guns away from dangerous people; 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, in January 2013, Hadiya Pendleton, a teenager who marched in President Obama's second inaugural parade and was tragically shot and killed just weeks later, should be now celebrating her 21 st birthday; and WHEREAS, to help honor Hadiya - and the 96 Americans whose lives are cut short and the countless survivors who are injured by shootings every day - a national coalition of organizations has designated June 1st, 2018, the first Friday in June, as the 4th National Gun Violence Awareness Day; and WHEREAS, the idea was inspired by a group of Hadiya's friends, who asked their classmates to commemorate her life by wearing orange; they chose this color because hunters wear orange to announce themselves to other hunters when out in the woods and orange is a color that symbolizes the value of human life; and WHEREAS, anyone can join this campaign by pledging to Wear Orange on June 1st, the first Friday in June in 2018, to help raise awareness about gun violence; and WHEREAS, by wearing orange on June 1, 2018 Americans will raise awareness about gun violence and honor the lives of gun violence victims and survivors; and WHEREAS, we renew our commitment to reduce gun violence and pledge to do all we can to keep firearms out of the wrong hands, and encourage responsible gun ownership to help keep our children safe; now, therefore,