LOBBY TO REMOVE THE CONGRESSIONAL BLOCK ON FUNDING FOR GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH

WHEREAS, the number of deaths from gun violence in the United States is 25.2 times greater than those in other developed nations, and 49 times greater in the United States for people aged 15-24; and

WHEREAS, in 2012 alone, firearms killed more than 30,000 people in the United States, including 11,208 deaths from gun homicides, constituting 69.5 percent of all homicides that year; and

WHEREAS, the number of nonfatal gun injuries has also increased over the past decade, which is often not considered when discussing the issue of gun violence; and

WHEREAS, teachers and students are at risk of being victims of gun violence both inside and outside of school; and 

WHEREAS, despite the abnormally high number of gun deaths in the United States and the public support for various measures to control gun violence; no major government reforms have taken place to address any aspect of the problem; and

WHEREAS, meaningful reform requires concrete knowledge about the root causes and solutions to this problem; and

WHEREAS, there is currently a congressional block on funding for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research (known as the Dickey Amendment) that would answer critical questions pertaining to solving the problem of gun violence in the United States;^,, and

WHEREAS, it has been estimated that the financial cost of gun violence to American taxpayers is nearly $230 billion a year:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers will lobby Congress to remove the congressional block on gun violence research.