I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1560 
To establish a Federal Advisory Council to Support Victims of Gun Violence. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 3, 2021 
Mr. EVANS (for himself, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BASS, Mrs. 
BEATTY, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. 
BOWMAN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. 
CLARKE of New York, Mr. COOPER, Mr. COSTA, Ms. DEAN, Ms. 
DEGETTE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, 
Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GREEN of 
Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HIGGINS of New 
York, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. JOHNSON of 
Georgia, Mr. JONES, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILDEE, 
Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LYNCH, 
Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 
MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. 
NORTON, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. ROYBAL- 
ALLARD, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SIRES, Mr. 
SMITH of Washington, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. THOMPSON of Mis-
sissippi, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. 
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Ms. WILD) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary 
A BILL 
To establish a Federal Advisory Council to Support Victims 
of Gun Violence. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Resources for Victims 
of Gun Violence Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) In the United States, more than 100 indi-
viduals are killed with guns every day, totaling near-
ly 40,000 individuals who die from gun violence 
every year. 
(2) Additionally, more than 230 individuals sus-
tain a nonfatal gun injury every day. According to 
a recent national poll, an estimated 10,000,000 indi-
viduals in the United States have been shot and in-
jured in their lifetimes. 
(3) In that same poll, approximately 58 percent 
of adults in the United States reported that they, or 
someone they care for, have experienced a form of 
gun violence, including a gun suicide, a gun homi-
cide, domestic violence involving a gun, or an unin-
tentional shooting. 
(4) Nearly two-thirds of gun-related deaths in 
the United States are suicides. Most individuals who 
attempt suicide do not die—unless they use a gun. 
Approximately 90 percent of gun suicide attempts 
end in death, whereas 4 percent of suicide attempts 
not involving a firearm result in death. 
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(5) This is particularly concerning for veterans, 
children, and teenagers. Veterans are 1.5 times more 
likely than non-veterans to die by suicide, and in 
2017, 69 percent of veteran suicides were by gun. 
Among children and teenagers, the rate of gun sui-
cide has increased 59 percent over the past 10 years. 
(6) An estimated 40,000,000 adults in the 
United States report someone they cared for had at-
tempted or died by suicide with a gun. 
(7) More than one-third of gun-related deaths 
in the United States are homicides, and in 2015, the 
gun homicide rate in the United States was nearly 
25 times higher than in other high-income countries. 
(8) Gun homicides in the United States occur 
disproportionately in cities, particularly in racially 
segregated neighborhoods with high rates of poverty. 
Gun homicide disproportionately affects communities 
of color, and Black Americans represent the major-
ity of gun homicide victims. 
(9) More than 600 mass shootings, defined as 
shootings in which 4 or more individuals were shot 
and killed or injured, took place in the United States 
in 2020, and more than 2,600 mass shootings have 
taken place since the shooting at Sandy Hook Ele-
mentary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. 
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(10) Firearms are the leading cause of death 
for children and teenagers. In 2019, more than 
3,300 children and teenagers were shot and killed. 
Each year, approximately 15,600 children and teen-
agers are shot and injured. Black children and teen-
agers are 14 times more likely than their white peers 
to die by gun homicide. 
(11) During an average year in the United 
States, more than 600 women are shot to death by 
an intimate partner, and many more women are shot 
and injured by an intimate partner. Nearly 
1,000,000 women in the United States who are alive 
today have been shot or shot at by an intimate part-
ner, and approximately 4,500,000 women in the 
United States today have been threatened with a 
gun by an intimate partner. 
(12) More than 10,300 violent hate crimes com-
mitted in the United States in an average year in-
volve a gun, or more than 28 each day. The vast 
majority of hate crimes are directed against commu-
nities of color, religious minorities, and individuals 
in the LGBTQ+ community. 
(13) In 2020, communities and cities across the 
United States experienced an increase in gun vio-
lence and gun homicides as the country struggled 
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with the economic and social uncertainty caused by 
the COVID–19 pandemic. 
(14) From March 2020 through November 
2020, an estimated 17,400,000 guns were sold, an 
81 percent increase over the same period in 2019. 
This unprecedented surge in gun sales put children, 
victims of domestic abuse, and communities of color 
at an even greater risk of gun violence. 
(15) The individuals who survive gun violence 
every year in the United States face a lifelong proc-
ess of physical and emotional healing, in addition to 
the heavy economic costs faced by those survivors, 
their families and communities, and society as a 
whole. Furthermore, victims of gun violence are 
often unaware of or have trouble accessing many 
available resources that could help them in their re-
covery. 
(16) Victims of gun violence experience per-
sistent mental health problems, including post-trau-
matic stress, depression, self-harm, anxiety, and sub-
stance abuse. The National Center for PTSD (Post- 
Traumatic Stress Disorder) of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs estimates that 28 percent of indi-
viduals who witness a mass shooting develop PTSD, 
and about one-third of those individuals develop 
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