[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 61 (Tuesday, May 17, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HOMICIDES BY GUNSHOT IN NEW YORK CITY

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise today to announce to the 
Senate that 8 people were killed this week in New York City by gunshot, 
bringing the total in 1994 to 368.
  The epidemic of violence caused by handguns and handgun ammunition 
continues to grow more serious, and the homicide statistics--
frightening as they are--do not tell the whole story. The Justice 
Department reported this week that the number of nonfatal crimes 
committed with a handgun rose to a record level during 1992. 
Specifically, handguns were used in over 917,500 nonfatal crimes--
almost 50 percent more than the average for the previous 5 years. The 
FBI reported an additional 13,200 handgun homicides during the same 
year, a 24 percent increase over the 5-year average.
  I have proposed that we ban or tax heavily certain rounds of 
particularly insidious handgun ammunition. If we do not, many more will 
die or will be injured by handgun ammunition. We must act now, Mr. 
President, before tens of thousands more lose their lives.

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