[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 83 (Wednesday, May 25, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3176-S3177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 478--EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE DESIGNATION OF JUNE 
 2, 2016, AS ``NATIONAL GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS DAY'' AND JUNE 2016 AS 
               ``NATIONAL GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH''

  Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Markey, Ms. Hirono, Mr. 
Franken, Mr. Coons, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Casey, 
Mr. Whitehouse, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Booker, Mr. Reed, and Ms. 
Warren) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 478

       Whereas, each year, more than--
       (1) 32,000 people in the United States are killed and 
     80,000 are injured by gunfire;
       (2) 11,000 people in the United States are killed in 
     homicides involving firearms;
       (3) 21,000 people in the United States commit suicide by 
     using firearms; and
       (4) 500 people in the United States are killed in 
     accidental shootings;

       Whereas, since 1968, more people of the United States have 
     died from guns in the United States than on the battlefields 
     of all the wars in the history of the United States;
       Whereas, by 1 count in 2015 in the United States, there 
     were--
       (1) 372 mass shooting incidents in which not fewer than 4 
     people were killed or wounded by gunfire; and
       (2) 64 incidents in which a gun was fired in a school;

       Whereas gun violence typically escalates during the summer 
     months;
       Whereas, every 70 minutes, 1 person in the United States 
     under 25 years of age dies because of gun violence, and more 
     than 6,300 such individuals die annually, including Hadiya 
     Pendleton, who, in 2013, was killed at 15 years of age while 
     standing in a Chicago park; and
       Whereas, on June 2, 2016, on what would have been Hadiya 
     Pendleton's 19th birthday, people across the United States 
     will recognize National Gun Violence Awareness Day and wear 
     orange in tribute to Hadiya and

[[Page S3177]]

     other victims of gun violence and their loved ones: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) supports--
       (A) the designation of June 2016 as ``National Gun Violence 
     Awareness Month'' and the goals and ideals of that month; and
       (B) the designation of June 2, 2016, as ``National Gun 
     Violence Awareness Day'' in remembrance of the victims of gun 
     violence; and
       (2) calls on the people of the United States to--
       (A) promote greater awareness of gun violence and gun 
     safety;
       (B) wear orange, the color that hunters wear to show that 
     they are not targets, on June 2;
       (C) concentrate heightened attention on gun violence during 
     the summer months, when gun violence typically increases; and
       (D) bring citizens and community leaders together to 
     discuss ways to make communities safer.

                          ____________________