Title
Resolution in Support of Common-Sense Gun Safety Laws to Reduce Gun Violence and Gun Deaths in Michigan
Body
Whereas, As of February 16, there had already been 72 mass shootings and 5,463 gun violence deaths in the United States in 2023, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, an online archive of gun violence incidents collected from over 7,500 law enforcement, media, government and commercial sources daily in an effort to provide near-real time data about the results of gun violence;
Whereas, According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), firearm deaths continue to be a significant and growing public health problem in the United States, with 79% of all homicides and 53% of all suicides in 2020 involving firearms;
Whereas, According to data from the CDC, the percentage of homicides and suicides attributed to firearm injuries increased from 79% to 81% and from 53% to 55% from 2020 to 2021, respectively, resulting in the highest percentage for homicide in more than 50 years and the highest percentage for suicide since 2001;
Whereas, The CDC found that the substantial increase in the firearm homicide rate, along with notable increases in firearm suicide rates for some groups, has widened racial, ethnic, and other disparities, with young people, males, and Black people suffering from the highest firearm homicide rates and largest increases in 2020;
Whereas, The communities most impacted by gun violence are disproportionately Black, Indigenous, and Latino/Hispanic (BIPOC) and yet often excluded from the policymaking process due in part to racist gun laws;
Whereas, Systemic racial inequalities such as unequal access to safe housing, adequate educational opportunities, police violence, and disinvestment in infrastructure and services in BIPOC communities have resulted in concentrated and highly disproportionate gun violence in these communities;
Whereas, In 2020, firearm related injury surpassed motor vehicle cr...
Click here for full text