197
THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE KEIKI INJURY PREVENTION COALITION TO CONVENE A
    WORKING GROUP TO EVALUATE AND RECOMMEND MEASURES TO
    ENCOURAGE THE USE OF SAFETY PROGRAMS SUCH AS THE EDDIE
    EAGLE PROGRAM FOR FIREARM SAFETY.



 1        WHEREAS, nationally, every ninety minutes a child is
 2   killed by a firearm; and
 3   
 4        WHEREAS, five times more frequently, a person is injured
 5   in a firearm-related incident; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, according to statistics from the Handgun Control,
 8   Inc., of the firearm-related deaths of children from birth to
 9   age fourteen, forty-seven per cent were homicides, thirty-two
10   per cent were accidental deaths, and nineteen per cent were
11   suicides; and
12   
13        WHEREAS, the rash of recent firearm-related deaths across
14   the nation involving children, especially in school settings,
15   is alarming and demonstrates a compelling need to improve
16   firearm safety; and
17   
18        WHEREAS, some progress has been made toward tightening
19   firearm laws to provide greater protection; and
20   
21        WHEREAS, since Florida's passage of its landmark Child
22   Access Prevention law in 1989, a number of other states have
23   enacted similar legislation, including California, Connecticut,
24   Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
25   Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas,
26   Virginia, and Wisconsin; and
27   
28        WHEREAS, Eddie Eagle is a statewide program for firearms
29   safety for school children provided free by the Hawaii Rifle
30   Association, and provides a structured, fundamental, non-
31   judgmental public safety message for elementary school
32   children; and 
33   
34        WHEREAS, comprised of over seventy public, private, and

 
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 1   community agencies and organizations, the Keiki Injury
 2   Prevention Coalition is a non-profit organization in Hawaii
 3   that works to ensure children's safety through community
 4   education, advocacy, and policies that protect children; now,
 5   therefore,
 6   
 7        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
 8   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
 9   Representatives concurring, that the Department of Health's
10   Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition is requested to convene a
11   working group to evaluate and recommend measures, short of a
12   governmental mandate, to encourage the use of programs such as
13   the Eddie Eagle program; and
14   
15        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Keiki Injury Prevention
16   Coalition, in conducting its evaluation, is requested to
17   examine innovative measures relied upon in other jurisdictions;
18   and
19   
20        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Keiki Injury Prevention
21   Coalition is requested to include in the working group
22   representatives from firearm dealers, organized firearm owner
23   and hunting organizations, parent groups, emergency medical
24   personnel, and law enforcement; and
25   
26        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Keiki Injury Prevention
27   Coalition transmit its findings and recommendations to the
28   Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of
29   the Regular Session of 2001; and
30   
31        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
32   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the
33   Board of Directors of the Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition,
34   the Director of Health, the Attorney General, the police chiefs
35   of each county, the prosecutor of each county, and a
36   representative of organizations representing firearm dealers,
37   firearm owners and hunters, parent groups, and emergency
38   medical personnel.