CHICAGO, Ill. – Illinois Governor JB Pritzker says he’s aware of the gun violence happening locally and which has resulted in a record number of homicides.
Unfortunately, Pritzker says that’s because it’s happening everywhere.
“In Chicago, Peoria, East Saint Louis, Champaign, Decatur, and Rockford, and every region of this state and this nation, in communities large and small,” said Pritzker.
Pritzker says young black men die from gun violence at a rate he claims is twenty times higher than their white counterparts.
That’s partly why he is signing an executive order declaring gun violence a public health emergency.
The Governor saying individually and collectively, the state will do whatever is needed to stop the violence.
“Address the immediate violence on our streets, and invest in fighting the underlying causes that create too much despair, too much addiction, too little mental health treatment, and too few opportunities,” said Pritzker.
The state is launching a lawmaker-approved $250-million Public Safety Initiative, described as data-driven and community-based that will help fund solutions.
Pritzker is also ordering state agencies to develop what the state is calling “holistic” solutions.
