III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 242 

Expressing support for the designation of June 4, 2021, as ‘‘National Gun 

Violence Awareness Day’’ and June 2021 as ‘‘National Gun Violence 

Awareness Month’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 26, 2021 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. MARKEY, 

Mr. CARPER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. SMITH, Mr. 

CASEY, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mrs. MURRAY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the designation of June 4, 2021, 

as ‘‘National Gun Violence Awareness Day’’ and June 

2021 as ‘‘National Gun Violence Awareness Month’’. 

Whereas, each year in the United States, more than— 

(1) 38,500 individuals are killed and 85,000 individuals are wounded by gunfire; 

(2) 14,000 individuals are killed in homicides involving guns; 

(3) 23,000 individuals die by suicide using a gun; 

and 

(4) 480 individuals are killed in unintentional shootings; 


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•SRES 242 IS 

Whereas, since 1968, more individuals have died from guns 

in the United States than have died on the battlefields 

of all the wars in the history of the United States; 

Whereas 2020 was one of the deadliest years on record for 

the United States, with an estimated 19,300 individuals 

killed in gun homicides or nonsuicide-related shootings, a 

25-percent increase over 2019; 

Whereas unintentional shooting deaths by children increased 

by nearly 1⁄3, comparing incidents in March to December 

of 2020 to the same months in 2019; 

Whereas, by 1 count, in 2020 in the United States, there 

were 610 mass shooting incidents in which at least 4 individuals were killed or wounded by gunfire; 

Whereas, every year in the United States, more than 3,000 

children and teens are killed by gun violence and 15,000 

children and teens are shot and wounded; 

Whereas approximately 8,800 individuals in the United 

States under the age of 25 die because of gun violence 

annually, including Hadiya Pendleton, who, in 2013, was 

killed at 15 years of age in Chicago, Illinois, while standing in a park; 

Whereas, on June 4, 2021, to recognize the 24th birthday of 

Hadiya Pendleton (born June 2, 1997), individuals 

across the United States will recognize National Gun Violence Awareness Day and wear orange in tribute to— 

(1) Hadiya Pendleton and other victims of gun violence; and 

(2) the loved ones of those victims; and 

Whereas June 2021 is an appropriate month to designate as 

‘‘National Gun Violence Awareness Month’’: Now, therefore, be it 


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•SRES 242 IS 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports— 

3 (A) the designation of ‘‘National Gun Vio4 lence Awareness Month’’ and the goals and 

5 ideals of that month; and 

6 (B) the designation of ‘‘National Gun Vio7 lence Awareness Day’’, in remembrance of the 

8 victims of gun violence; and 

9 (2) calls on the people of the United States 

10 to— 

11 (A) promote greater awareness of gun vio12 lence and gun safety; 

13 (B) wear orange, the color that hunters 

14 wear to show that they are not targets, on ‘‘Na15 tional Gun Violence Awareness Day’’; 

16 (C) concentrate heightened attention on 

17 gun violence during the summer months, when 

18 gun violence typically increases; and 

19 (D) bring community members and leaders 

20 together to discuss ways to make communities 

21 safer. 

Æ 


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