[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 993 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 993

 Expressing support for the designation of June 2020 as ``National Gun 
  Violence Awareness Month'', and calling on Congress to address gun 
                               violence.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 4, 2020

 Ms. Norton submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing support for the designation of June 2020 as ``National Gun 
  Violence Awareness Month'', and calling on Congress to address gun 
                               violence.

Whereas summer is the season with the highest rates of gun violence in the 
        United States;
Whereas 100,000 Americans suffer gunshot wounds in the United States every year;
Whereas approximately 96 people die and approximately 200 are injured from gun 
        violence each day in the United States;
Whereas more than 60 percent of all gunshot victims in the United States are 
        under 30 years old;
Whereas every 70 minutes, one American under the age of 25 loses his or her life 
        to gun violence;
Whereas 5 percent of gun dealers (approximately 3,000 dealers nationwide) supply 
        nearly 90 percent of all crime guns that show up in American streets;
Whereas more children have been killed by guns in the United States since the 
        2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting than the total number of 
        American soldiers killed in overseas combat since September 11, 2001;
Whereas more Americans have died from gunshot wounds in the past three decades 
        than the sum total of combat deaths in all the wars in United States 
        history;
Whereas half of all suicides are a result of gunshot wounds;
Whereas 90 percent of homicides of law enforcement officers are the result of 
        firearms;
Whereas firearms used during a robbery are 3 times more likely than knives and 
        10 times more likely than other weapons to result in the death of a 
        victim;
Whereas 20 percent of female homicide victims are killed by a current or former 
        partner using firearms;
Whereas gun violence declined in the 1990s after the enactment of the Brady 
        Handgun Violence Prevention Act in 1993, which created a national 
        background check system, and the Violent Crime Control and Law 
        Enforcement Act of 1994, which placed a 10-year ban on the sale of 
        assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines;
Whereas the ban on the sale of assault weapons and large capacity ammunition 
        magazines expired in 2004;
Whereas according to a 2014 study, of the 16 States that then required 
        background checks of private gun sales, there were 38 percent fewer 
        fatal shootings of women by their partners, 39 percent fewer police 
        murdered by firearms, 17 percent fewer firearm-aggravated assaults, and 
        49 percent fewer suicides using firearms;
Whereas almost 40,000 deaths in the United States were due to guns in 2017; and
Whereas June would be an appropriate month to designate as ``National Gun 
        Violence Awareness Month'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the designation of ``National Gun Violence 
        Awareness Month''; and
            (2) calls on the Senate to pass gun violence prevention 
        legislation, including--
                    (A) H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 
                2019, to require a background check on every gun sale 
                or transfer, which passed the House of Representatives 
                on February 27, 2020; and
                    (B) H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act 
                of 2019, to close the ``Charleston Loophole'' by 
                providing the Federal background check system 
                additional time to make a final determination on a 
                potential gun purchaser before a licensed dealer can 
                transfer a gun, which passed the House of 
                Representatives on February 28, 2020.
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