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Resident urges Fort Atkinson recognition of Gun Violence Awareness Day, cites state joint resolution
Summary
Joan Fitzgerald addressed council in public comment to urge recognition of Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 6, citing state‑level resolution she introduced and presenting state and national statistics on firearm deaths and injuries.
During the council’s public comment period on June 3, Joan Fitzgerald, who identified herself as living at 545 Stratford Court in Fort Atkinson, urged the council to recognize Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 6 and described recent work at the state level.
Fitzgerald said, “As a state representative, I'm proud to say I recently introduced a joint resolution to recognize this day in Wisconsin,” and summarized national and state statistics included in that resolution. She told the council that firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States and the second leading cause in Wisconsin. She said, “Every day, a hundred and 25 people in The United States are killed with guns,” and provided state figures she said were annual averages: roughly 741 deaths and 1,686 wounded by guns in Wisconsin per year, with about 64% of gun deaths in Wisconsin being suicides and an annual average of 15 women fatally shot by intimate partners.
Fitzgerald asked the community to observe Gun Violence Awareness Day by wearing orange and to take steps she characterized as meaningful actions to prevent gun violence. The public comment was informational; the council did not take action on the topic at the meeting.
