ourselves and our Posterity . (3) The United States has been at peace for only 21 entire years since its birth during the Revolutionary War. During the course of the 20th century, more than 100,000,000 people perished in wars. Many of our citizens today have never known a peaceful year in their lifetimes. (4) Thus far in the 21st century, nearly 1,000,000 people have died in conflict and war. In 2017 alone, 68.5 million people, or one person in 110, were displaced from their homes by conflict and persecution. The United States has been at war over 15 years, with more than 6,800 members of the Armed Forces and hundreds of thousands of civilians estimated to have been killed in the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and territories occupied by ISIL. (5) Every year more than 300,000 people are killed by gun violence around the world. In 2017, nearly 40,000 people died in the United States as a result of gun violence