[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 64 (Thursday, May 9, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4951-S4952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                A MOTHER'S DAY WISH TO END GUN VIOLENCE

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, this Sunday is Mother's Day, when 
millions of sons and daughters will gather to pay tribute to the women 
who raised them. Mother's Day is a joyous celebration for most, but for 
families touched by the epidemic of gun violence, it can be a cruel 
reminder of what they have lost.

[[Page S4952]]

  I want to speak today about one such family, and I want to tell 
Senators how a mother from Orange County, CA, Mary Leigh Blek, chose to 
honor her son's memory by becoming a leader in the fight against 
violence.
  On June 29, 1994, Mary Leigh Blek experienced every mother's 
nightmare--a 3 a.m. phone call from the police, telling that her 
beloved son Matthew had been shot and killed. Matthew Blek was walking 
his date home that night when three teenagers on a violent rampage shot 
him twice in the head.
  The weapon used in that terrible crime was a junk gun, probably 
manufactured in southern California. Congress has prohibited the 
importation of these cheap, poor quality, and easily concealable 
firearms, but has allowed their domestic manufacture to soar unchecked.
  For the past year, Mary Leigh Blek and her husband Charles have been 
on a crusade to stop the proliferation of these junk guns. ``Silence is 
consent,'' she says, and Mary Leigh Blek has been anything but silent. 
She has become a tireless organizer in the anti-gun-violence movement--
making speeches, attending rallies, and most recently testifying before 
a Committee of the California Legislature.
  Mary Leigh Blek is determined to spare other mothers the pain that 
ripped her family apart. When I introduced the Junk Gun Violence 
Protection Act, a bill that would apply the same standards to 
domestically produced handguns as are currently applied to imports, 
Mary Leigh Blek was there. Once again, she told the story of how her 
son was slain and why these poor quality, easily concealable handguns 
should not be on the streets. I know it is hard for her to keep talking 
about this tragedy, and I admire her courage and the sense of public 
service that motivates her to keep up the fight.
  This Mother's Day, I will think of Mary Leigh Blek. It is my hope 
that by next Mother's Day, the kind of gun that killed her son Matthew 
will no longer be out on the streets.

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