RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, gun violence has categorically assailed the very public health, safety, morals, and welfare that we, the Members of the Chicago City Council, are charged with protecting; and
WHEREAS, time and again, we have joined in a state of national mourning after yet another group of schoolchildren is gunned down; and
WHEREAS, most recently, on February 14, 2018, a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida claimed seventeen young lives and seventeen more were wounded; and
WHEREAS, student and youth leaders have coalesced to form a national "March For Our Lives" movement that, to date has seen over 800 anti-gun violence rallies in major cities across the world, including the nation's capital and Chicago; and
WHEREAS, in a signal that the gun policy reform movement is gaining traction, some businesses are shifting towards more gun safety minded business practices; and
WHEREAS, Citigroup, the nation's fourth largest bank, announced in March of 2018 a series of specific restrictions on the sale of firearms by its business customers, making it the first Wall Street bank to take a stance in the divisive nationwide gun control debate; and
WHEREAS, the announced policy would apply to clients who offer credit cards backed by Citigroup or borrow money, use banking services or raise capital through the company; and
WHEREAS, as chief executive, Michael L. Corbat, told The New York Times, "Banks serve a societal purpose — we believe our investors want us to do this and be responsible corporate citizens;" and
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago recognizes, in gratitude, Citigroup's leadership and courage to act where public policy has stalled; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO:
That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this eighteenth day of April, 2018, do hereby praise Citigroup's leadership in the fight against the senseless gun violence that has besieged our nation and City; and
BE ITFfJRTHER RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Board of Dneidtors of Citigroup; Inc.
EdwanfM. Burke Is Alderman, 14th Ward