[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 26 (Thursday, February 29, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H1620-H1621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 LASER SIGHTS LEGISLATION INTRODUCTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut [Ms. 
DeLauro] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to announce a new legislative 
initiative that I am introducing, the Laser Assisted Gun Crime Penalty 
Act. I have drafted this bill with the assistance of the greater New 
Haven area police departments to provide an effective response to a new 
threat to our law enforcement officers and the public in general.
  There has emerged on the scene recently a deadly addition to the 
arsenal deployed by gangs and other violent criminals. That new threat 
is called a laser sight.
  The enhanced accuracy these devices bring--in the hands of the 
violent criminal--create a ``super-gun,'' aimed with lethal precision 
at our police officers as they patrol our neighborhoods to serve and 
protect the public.
  The streets of the Third Congressional District of Connecticut are 
not immune to this new technology. On Christmas Day of last year and in 
the 

[[Page H1621]]
first weeks of the new year, guns equipped with laser sights have taken 
lives and evoked fear amongst families in my district and my local 
police forces. That is why I am introducing this vital legislation.
  Laser sights have become a new rage, the latest deadly fad. By 
dramatically improving the accuracy of deadly weapons, laser sights 
turn street thugs into sharpshooters.
  The Laser Assisted Gun Crime Penalty Act directs the U.S. Sentencing 
Commission to increase penalties for individuals convicted of crimes 
involving laser sights. This bill does not ban laser sight technology 
or guns equipped with laser sights. This measure punishes the criminal, 
not sportsmen and sportswomen or law-abiding gun users. This approach 
to crime and guns can be supported by both pro and antigun control 
advocates.
  My legislation will deter the use of laser sight technology in street 
crime and require the sentencing commission to collect data on the use 
and frequency of laser sighting devices in criminal activity throughout 
the Nation.
  My legislation has received strong endorsements from leading police 
organizations like the National Fraternal Order of Police, the 
International Brotherhood of Police, the Center for Prevention of 
Violence and Handgun Control, and the Violence Policy Center. I urge my 
colleagues to cosponsor my bill and make our streets safer by cracking 
down on criminals who target law abiding citizens with laser sighting 
devices. Not gun owners.
  We must send a strong signal to the criminal element that we will not 
tolerate the proliferation of this new brand of high-tech violence. 
Enacting this legislation will send a clear signal to anyone who would 
use a laser sighted super-gun, ``If you do that crime, you will do real 
time.''

                          ____________________