[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 55 (Thursday, May 1, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCTION OF THE COMMUNITY RIGHT TO PROTECT CHILDREN RESOLUTION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BRUCE F. VENTO

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 1, 1997

  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Community Right to 
Protect Children Resolution, designed to reaffirm the right of State 
and local governments to pass laws intended to preserve and protect the 
safety of children.
  In response to a series of gun related incidents at county recreation 
and teen centers, Fairfax County, VA, officials passed legislation, 
written to apply only in their county, that would have prohibited guns, 
knives, and other weapons from community recreation and teen centers. 
This common sense measure aimed at curbing crime in centers designated 
as safe havens for children to congregate, set the special interests 
groups in motion. Unable to discriminate between measures designed to 
protect children and those aimed at restricting gun rights of law 
abiding citizens, the myopic self interest powers vigorously protested, 
ultimately convincing Governor Allen to veto the bill. Governor Allen's 
veto not only struck down a good law, but also severely limited the 
ability of communities to fight crime and provide weapon free schools 
and recreation centers on a local level.
  I am here today because I believe that the ability of local 
governments to pass effective laws that strengthen public safety should 
neither be constrained nor denied. I am, therefore, introducing this 
important legislation which expresses the sense of Congress that State 
and local governments should be encouraged and have the right to 
respond to the needs of their communities by enacting laws and 
ordinances designed to preserve and protect the well-being of young 
people, including those that seek to ban the possession of firearms and 
other weapons in community facilities. The Community Right to Protect 
Children Resolution seeks to reverse the trend of putting children and 
public safety concerns second to special interest groups. The Virginia 
case illustrates the tragic consequences of what happens when the 
interests of children rank second to those of specialized interests 
with powerful political connections.
  I think that Members on both sides of the aisle will agree with me 
that when it comes to addressing the unique public safety concerns of 
our districts, one size does not fit all. Local governments require 
flexibility--not legal straightjackets that bar their actions to 
protect children. This resolution recognizes that different problems 
require different solutions, that what works in rural areas may not be 
enough for urban areas where crimes committed with guns are more likely 
to occur. Local and State governments are fighting the crime problem on 
many fronts, including innovative policing and social programs, but 
their hands are tied when it comes to enacting any restrictions on 
guns. Reasonable gun and weapon restrictions, such as the measure 
passed by Fairfax County, VA, are an essential ingredient in our effort 
to reduce crime, particularly among juveniles. To suggest otherwise, 
ignores the incidence and pervasiveness of the problem, notably that 
nearly 90 percent of homicide victims 15 to 19 years of age were killed 
with a firearm. Juveniles are both perpetrators and victims of crime 
committed with firearms. Arrest rates are consistently and 
substantially higher for young people than for all other age groups. 
Between 1987 and 1994, annual rates of firearm homicide for youth aged 
15 to 19 years of age increased 155 percent, totaling 8,116 deaths in 
1994. This amounts to an average of 22 youth homicide victims per day 
in the United States, earning the United States the dubious distinction 
of leading the industrialized world in the number and rate of gun-
related child homicides.
  Strategies that limit the ability of local governments to respond to 
community needs, ensure that the war on crime will not be fought, much 
less won. We should be empowering rather than disabling and limiting 
the ability of local governments to fight crime. We need to ensure that 
communities have in their arsenal every tool available to curb the 
growth and incidence of juvenile crime. Federal and State law, and 
policy must not stand in the way of State and local governments' 
efforts to protect its citizens. Let us encourage them to accomplish 
what the Federal Government has limited ability to do--enact reasonable 
controls over firearms and other weapons that threaten public safety 
and the well-being of our children in their schools, recreation 
centers, or other areas in their communities.

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