[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              INTRODUCTION OF GUNS AND DRUNKS LEGISLATION

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                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 7, 1997

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I wouldn't have thought it was necessary to 
introduce a bill prohibiting gun sellers from selling guns to obviously 
intoxicated individuals, but it is.
  as the law stands, you can't sell alcohol to someone who is clearly 
drunk because that person might hurt himself or others, but you can 
sell a drunk a dangerous firearm. Even without a law, common sense 
might dictate that you don't sell a gun to a drunk, but unfortunately, 
not everyone uses their common sense.
  Deborah Kitchen, a mother of five, was shot by her ex-boyfriend and 
left paralyzed from the neck down a mere half an hour after the man 
bought a $100 rifle at a K-Mart in Tampa, FL. The man had consumed a 
case of beer and nearly a fifth of whiskey before he bought the gun. He 
was so incapacitated at the time of the purchase that the store clerk 
had to fill out the Federal firearm registration form.
  Ms. Kitchen successfully sued K-Mart for negligence, but the retail 
chain has appealed, denying any liability. K-Mart doesn't think it did 
anything wrong in selling the drunk the gun that paralyzed Ms. Kitchen. 
If gun sellers cannot act responsibly on their own, it is up to us to 
force them to act responsibly. No one should sell a gun to a drunk, 
period. My bill would make it a Federal crime to sell a gun to a drunk 
in an effort to ensure that there won't be any more Deborah Kitchens in 
the future.

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