RESOLUTION (
WHEREAS, The scourge of gun violence has caused serious harm to the people and communities ofthe great City of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, According to a study released by the University of Chicago, the murder rate in Chicago jumped dramatically in 2016 to 27.7 homicides per 100,000 residents; and
WHEREAS, Chicago's murder rate is far outpacing most other U.S. cities, including the four other largest in the U.S.: New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, and Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, There were more than 4,300 shooting incidents in Chicago in 2016; and
WHEREAS, Homicides, shootings, and robberies involving a gun all saw double-digit percentage increases; and
WHEREAS, Gun violence negatively affects the physical, mental, and emotional health of all people and hurts all neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, Gun violence disproportionately affects young people and people of color;
and
WHEREAS, Today's survivors of gun violence may perpetuate the cycle of gun violence themselves; and
WHEREAS, Cities that treat violence like an infectious disease by intervening in specific neighborhoods and treating individuals with a public health approach have seen significant reductions in gun violence; and
WHEREAS, Our residents have a right to healthy living, which includes safe neighborhoods that are free of gun violence; and
WHEREAS, The mission of public health is the attainment of positive physical, mental, and social well-being; and
WHEREAS, The City Council of the City of Chicago recognizes the City's current gun violence crisis is a public health issue that must be addressed with a coordinated public health response; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Members ofthe City Council of the City of Chicago, assembled this twenty-fifth day of January, 2017, do hereby:
Call upon the City of Chicago to undertake a comprehensive gun violence prevention plan in order to reduce the physical, mental, and emotional cost of gun violence; and
Call upon the Department of Public ...
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