[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 111 (Friday, August 7, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1636-E1637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               WHITE HOUSE REMARKS OF OFFICER GERRY FLYNN

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                         HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 7, 1998

  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the 
stirring and insightful remarks of Lowell Police Officer Gerry Flynn at 
a White House Rose Garden event yesterday, on the importance of 
preserving and strengthening the Federal Brady Law. Officer Flynn spoke 
eloquently about the price we pay as a society when guns find their way 
into the wrong hands and the need to extend the Brady five-day waiting 
period. I congratulate Officer Flynn for the honor bestowed upon him in 
being invited to speak at the White House in front of the President, 
and I congratulate him upon seizing that opportunity to do the entire 
city of Lowell proud. I am submitting Officer Flynn's White House 
remarks for the Record, so that his words may remain with all of us.

 Statement of Lowell Police Officer Gerry Flynn at the White House on 
                         the Brady Handgun Law

       Good morning. As National Vice-President of the 
     International Brotherhood of Police Officers (IBPO) and 
     President of the Lowell Police Patrolmen's Association, it is 
     truly an honor and a privilege to be here with you this 
     morning. On behalf of those of us in law enforcement, it 
     gives me great pleasure to speak in support of an issue of 
     such enormous importance as ``The Brandy Handgun Law.''
       Robert F. Kennedy once said, ``It is a responsibility to 
     put away childish things, to make the possession and use of 
     firearms a matter undertaken only by serious people who will 
     use them with the restraint and maturity that their dangerous 
     nature deserves and demands. For far too long, we have dealt 
     with these deadly weapons as if they were harmless toys. It 
     is past time that we wipe this stain of violence from our 
     land.''
       Yet, thirty years after his death by a handgun, we are 
     still attempting to wipe the stain of violence from our 
     land--except the stain of violence has now spread into the 
     classrooms occupied by our children.

[[Page E1637]]

       Today, in every city in this country, there are children in 
     schools with handguns. Children who are exposed to violence 
     on a daily basis, children who feel they need protection more 
     than they need an education. Children who should be enjoying 
     life rather than taking one. ``The Brady Handgun Law'' 
     provides hope for these children and their families.
       For those who say that ``The Brady Law'' infringes on the 
     rights of the American people to keep and bear arms; ask them 
     what right does any American have to go into ``The House of 
     the People'' and kill two brave men.
       For those who say that ``The Brady Law'' is too costly to 
     the American taxpayer; ask them what price would they pay to 
     ensure that their families would not have to endure what the 
     families of Capitol Police Officers Jacob J. Chestnut and 
     John Gibson have endured.
       For those who say ``The Brady Law'' is too confining and 
     restricts would-be gun owners; ask them if they believed 
     restrictions are more confining than the one Jim and Sarah 
     Brady deal with on a daily basis.
       In closing, I concur with Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL.) when 
     he states, ``We cannot allow the gun lobby to override those 
     in law enforcement and endanger American families.''
       We must continue to have a mandatory waiting period which 
     allows local police departments throughout the country to 
     conduct their own background checks. Currently, over 95% of 
     this nation's law enforcement officers use this system on a 
     voluntary basis because we know the waiting period provision 
     contained in the original ``Brady Law'' saves lives!
       However, this November an amendment sponsored by the NRA, 
     shall mark a change in ``The Brady Law's'' waiting period. 
     For those of us on the Lowell Police Department this November 
     shall also mark the hollow 20th anniversary of the last 
     Lowell Police Officer killed in the line of duty. He too was 
     killed by a handgun, while responding to an armed robbery at 
     a pharmacy.
       So, Mr. President, Members of Congress, on behalf of slain 
     Lowell Police Officer Christos G. Rouses and my two fallen 
     brothers from the Capitol Police, we urge you to support this 
     legislation in order to extend ``The Brady Law's'' waiting 
     period.
       Thank you and God bless the United States of America.

       

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