[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 10 (Monday, February 7, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                            MORNING BUSINESS

                                 ______


THE KILLING OF PATROLMAN STEVEN MICHAEL SHAW AND THE BATTLE AGAINST GUN 
                                VIOLENCE

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President, I bring to the Senate's attention today a 
tragedy which occurred on the streets in Providence this past week and 
which occurs with frightening and intolerable frequency throughout this 
country. Last Thursday afternoon, Patrolman Steven Michael Shaw of the 
Providence Police Department was shot and killed while in the line of 
duty. By all accounts, Patrolman Shaw was a superior officer who loved 
his job and who was particularly noted for his engagement in the most 
difficult aspects of his work. The city of Providence and Rhode Island 
will greatly miss his service, rendered in the proud tradition of the 
finest of our police officers: quietly and heretofore unheralded in the 
public sphere. I extend to Patrolman Shaw's family and friends my 
heartfelt sympathy in this time of loss and wish to assure them that I 
and my office stand ready to assist them in whatever manner is possible 
as they cope with this tragic death.
  Mr. President, Patrolman Shaw's death raises yet again the ugly 
specter of the prevalence of gun violence in our society. We are 
growing accustomed to hearing of shootings and killings occurring daily 
in our streets, homes, and neighborhoods. In the case of Patrolman 
Shaw, he was shot while in pursuit of a robbery suspect who had stolen 
three purses. Moreover, he was shot while searching the bedroom of a 
home where a 5-year-old sat watching a children's television program. 
People are shooting and killing with seemingly no regard at all to 
human life. Children are carrying guns and weapons to school on a 
regular basis. What has our society come to? More importantly, why 
cannot we do anything about it?
  Long-term solutions are not easy and the coordination of several 
different policies will be necessary if anything we do is to have a 
lasting effect. But it becomes more and more clear to me that with each 
passing day, we must do what we can in the immediate term to curb the 
violence facilitated by guns in our society. In this regard, I believe 
we must push for faster consideration and implementation of reasonable 
and effective laws which control the proliferation of guns and their 
use in our society. No other industrialized country in the world 
permits the ease of access and purchase of guns and ammunition that we 
do. And, I believe, not just coincidentally no other industrialized 
country has even a fraction of the level of gun violence that we do. I 
fully realize that controlling guns is not the sole magic answers to 
the problem of gun violence in our society. Nevertheless, as we sort 
out what else we can do, it borders on the criminal to not go forward 
with the policy options available now.
  Again, I pay tribute to the service that Patrolman Shaw paid to the 
city of Providence and the State of Rhode Island. I also salute the 
continuing efforts of the officers which carry on in their jobs in the 
streets today. We owe it to them and the citizens they protect every 
effort we can muster here in the Senate to provide safer streets in 
which to work and live. May the day come before too long where handguns 
are removed from the public access, as they are all too available now.
  I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

                          ____________________