City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier Addresses Recent Comments from the Kenney Administration Regarding Her Gun Violence Resolution

PHILADELPHIA — Councilmember Jamie Gauthier today released the following statement:

“Back in September of 2020, 14 members of the City Council co-sponsored Resolution 200447, which calls on Mayor Kenney to declare gun violence a citywide emergency in Philadelphia.

“I want to address comments that the Mayor’s team has recently provided to the press regarding the resolution. These statements twist the words of our request, falsely suggesting to the public that we are calling for a heightened law enforcement response.

“In a WHYY article published earlier this week, a mayoral spokesperson is quoted as saying that ‘it is vital people understand what they are talking about when calling for a State of Emergency,’ which ‘can mean curfews, and might result in what many call ‘over-policing’ — something our Administration is firmly against given our reckoning with decades-old systemic racism.’

“Let us be perfectly clear: Resolution 200447 does not call for a ‘State of Emergency’ as outlined by city and state code. In fact, the phrase ‘state of emergency’ doesn’t appear in the resolution at all. Rather, the resolution presents a detailed set of proposed steps that our city could take in order to treat this crisis with the urgency that it deserves, and to do more to tackle it from a public health perspective.

“Some of the steps the resolution sets forth include greater transparency on the implementation of gun violence prevention initiatives; enhanced coordination among relevant City agencies; and leveraging the resources of Philadelphia’s dynamic private sector, nonprofit community, academic institutions, and healthcare organizations.

“We were inspired to call for this emergency declaration based on a previous executive order that Mayor Kenney issued, which called for an emergency response to the opioid epidemic. We ask that the same consideration be given to gun violence, an epidemic that is tearing apart Black and brown neighborhoods across our city.

“Philadelphians know what an emergency is. People living through one of the worst spates of gun violence in our city’s history, people who have lost family members, people who feel like their cries for help are going unanswered — they all know that this is a full-blown crisis.

“The most fundamental and urgent human need is for safety — to be free from the dangers that might suddenly end our lives. If people aren’t safe, nothing else matters. This is why we need action to address gun violence, and why we need it now.

“I look forward to working with the Kenney Administration and my colleagues on City Council towards the type of all-hands-on-deck approach this moment demands.”