In the near future, we plan to introduce a resolution recognizing the first week of February 2024 as "Gun Violence Survivors Week” in Pennsylvania.
 
Recognizing Gun Violence Survivors Week shines a light on gun violence as a major public health issue in our communities. According to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, shootings (intentional and unintentional) occur every day in communities across the Commonwealth. Most shooting victims survive their physical injuries. For every firearm-related death, two more survive. A 2022 study by Everytown for Gun Safety found that:

• Nine out of ten gun violence survivors report experiencing trauma from the incident.
• More than half of those who had experienced gun violence within the last 12 months were most likely to rate the impact of trauma as a 5 out of 5, meaning that trauma frequently affects their well-being and/or their functioning.
• Half of survivors reported that they experienced gun violence in a home: their own, a neighbor’s, a friend’s, or a family member’s.
• Nurses, doctors, and medical or hospital staff were the most likely to say they experienced the impact of gun violence through their work, followed by people who work at schools, including educators and staff.
• Two-thirds of survivors who were shot and wounded expressed the need for mental health services, therapy, and support. They also expressed the need for legal assistance as the victim of a crime; financial assistance to deal with medical and other expenses.

 
One gun violence survivor describes their experience as, “…dealing with the inconsistencies of healing, both physically and emotionally. The existence of being this gray person in a world where everyone else sees everything as black and white. I’m either completely fine and it’s over and done, or I’m this wounded person who can never be functional—the lack of understanding that I am not really either, but some days may be one or the other….”

Please join us in co-sponsoring this resolution to recognize February 1 – 7, 2024, as “Gun Violence Survivors Week” in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.