2015-2016 Bill 4161: Bradley Blake Foundation - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 121st Session, 2015-2016 3 4 H. 4161 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 Concurrent Resolution 9 Sponsors: Reps. Jefferson, Williams, CobbHunter, Ott, King, Southard, Daning, Crosby, George, Hart 10 and M.S. McLeod 11 Document Path: l:\council\bills\swb\5327cm15.docx 12 13 Introduced in the House on May 12, 2015 14 Introduced in the Senate on May 13, 2015 15 Adopted by the General Assembly on May 13, 2015 16 17 Summary: Bradley Blake Foundation 18 19 20 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 21 22 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 23 5/12/2015 House Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate ( House Journalpage 40) 24 5/13/2015 Senate Introduced, adopted, returned with concurrence ( Senate Journalpage 9) 25 26 View the latest legislative information at the website 27 28 29 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 30 31 5/12/2015 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 10 11 TO RAISE THE AWARENESS OF THE BRADLEY BLAKE 12 FOUNDATION SURROUNDING THE ISSUE OF GUN 13 VIOLENCE AND TO DECLARE THE MONTH OF JUNE 2015 14 GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH. 15 16 Whereas, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control 17 and Prevention, approximately 81,300 nonfatal injuries and 31,672 18 deaths involving guns occur every year. This works out to about 19 three hundred eight shootings and eightysix deaths every day; and 20 21 Whereas, guns are the most common weapon used in domestic 22 violence against women, and access to firearms increases the risk 23 of homicide by more than five times; and 24 25 Whereas, it is imperative that there be greater public awareness of 26 this serious issue, and more must be done to increase activity at the 27 local, state, and national levels; and 28 29 Whereas, various options are open to this State in dealing with gun 30 violence, one of the most effective being the utilization of a 31 publichealth approach. Publichealth programs have dramatically 32 reduced lung cancer by preventing smoking. Automobile accidents 33 are curtailed by traffic regulations, safer cars, and driver training. 34 Real violence prevention cannot wait until there is a gunman at the 35 door but must start before problems escalate into violence. For 36 example, there are numerous controlled studies demonstrating that 37 schoolbased counseling and violenceprevention programs are 38 effective at teaching students how to resolve conflicts and 39 problems without resorting to violence. Prevention must begin 40 early to be most effective; and 41

[4161] 2 1 Whereas, this resolution, the first of its kind in South Carolina, will 2 inspire a necessary discussion in our community on how we can 3 harness our resources to reduce gun violence and improve our 4 state’s programs in prevention, intervention, education, and 5 outreach. Now, therefore, 6 7 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate 8 concurring: 9 10 That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this 11 resolution, raise the awareness of the Bradley Blake Foundation 12 surrounding the issue of gun violence and declare the month of 13 June 2015 Gun Violence Awareness Month. 14 XX 15

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