Bill Text: AZ HR2003 | 2024 | Fifty-sixth Legislature 2nd Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Gun violence; public health crisis
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-24 - House read second time [HR2003 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2024-HR2003-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: gun violence; public health crisis |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session 2024
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HR 2003 |
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Introduced by Representatives Sandoval: Aguilar, Austin, Stahl Hamilton, Villegas
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A Resolution
declaring gun violence a public health crisis in Arizona.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Whereas, the United States is in the midst of a troubling crime wave. 2019 to 2020 saw the single largest year-to-year increase in murders in our nation's history, a trend that continued into 2021. Nonfatal shootings and other aggravated assaults have also dramatically increased in many jurisdictions; and
Whereas, according to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2021 than in any other year on record; and
Whereas, gun violence is a daily scourge that threatens our most fundamental right: the right to life. More than 600 people die every day as a result of firearms violence, which is driven in part by easy access to firearms; and
Whereas, gun ownership is consistently correlated with rates of firearm suicides, homicides and accidental shootings; and
Whereas, Americans are 25 times more likely to be killed in a gun homicide than residents of high-income peer countries; and
Whereas, the American Medical Association has formally recognized gun violence as a public health crisis; and
Whereas, firearms cause devastating injuries that result in lasting consequences on physical and mental health for individuals, families and communities. Some gunshot victims need intensive, lifelong care. Others may lose their ability to work. Many have little or no access to programs that offer adequate long-term care and rehabilitation; and
Whereas, the impact of gun violence extends beyond physical injuries and fatalities, including emotional trauma, economic burdens and long-lasting suffering for affected individuals and their families; and
Whereas, beginning in 2014, firearm death rates began significantly increasing in Arizona; and
Whereas, gun violence is one of the leading causes of death in both adults and children in this state; and
Whereas, in 2020 alone, 1,265 Arizonans were killed due to firearms; and
Whereas, in 2022, according to Arizona's child fatality review, firearm deaths surpassed drug overdoses and car accidents as the number one cause of death of children 15 to 17 years of age; and
Whereas, our human rights are not protected if our leaders fail to tackle and end the epidemic of gun violence and gun deaths.
Therefore
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona:
That the Members of the House of Representatives declare gun violence a public health crisis in this state.
