[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 82 (Thursday, June 10, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S6884]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S6884]]
                             YOUTH VIOLENCE

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, our nation has been riveted by the 
violence in Littleton, CO and Conyers, GA and our youth's easy access 
to guns. Communities have become increasingly concerned about their own 
schools and are more sensitized to the dangers of youth violence. Yet, 
despite this scrutiny, firearms continue to claim the lives of our 
young people. Every day on the average, another 14 children in America 
are killed with guns because of the gaping loopholes in our Federal 
firearms laws. We took steps to eliminate some of these loopholes 
during Senate consideration of the juvenile justice bill. 
Unfortunately, the legislation passed by the Senate did not go far 
enough to reduce the easy availability of lethal weapons to persons who 
should not have them.
  Today, I saw an ABC News Wire report called ``Michigan sting 
operation shows felons can buy guns.'' According to this report, two 
investigators in Michigan, one posing as a felon and the other as his 
friend, went to ten different firearms dealers to purchase guns. 
Remember, selling a gun to a felon is illegal but these investigators 
had no problems with the gun dealers they approached. Out of the 10 
dealers in this investigation, nine reportedly allowed, apparently, 
illegal purchases. In total, 37 guns were apparently purchased 
illegally during this selling spree. And still, the NRA wants Congress 
to expand the loopholes in our firearms laws, rather than taking modest 
steps to close them.
  Since the moment the Senate passed the Juvenile Justice bill, NRA 
lobbyists in Washington have been working around the clock to lobby 
Members of the House of Representatives. The NRA has named as its ``top 
priority, the defeat of any Lautenberg-style gun show amendment in the 
U.S. House.'' The Lautenberg amendment, adopted by the Senate, simply 
requires dealers at gun shows to follow the same rules as other gun 
dealers, by using the existing Brady system for background checks. It 
accomplishes this goal without creating any new burdens for law-abiding 
citizens and without any additional fees imposed on gun sellers or gun 
buyers. But the NRA wants to create additional loopholes by creating a 
special category of gun show dealers, who would be exempt from even the 
most minimum standards. They also want to weaken the bill by 
establishing a 24-hour limit on the time that vendors have to complete 
background checks, rather than the current standard of 3 business days, 
the time the FBI says is necessary. It will be a sad day if the NRA can 
successfully lobby the House to eliminate these moderate proposals in 
the Juvenile Justice bill.
  I hope the House will amend its current bill to include language, 
passed by the Senate, to limit the importation of large capacity 
ammunition devices, clips that domestic companies were prohibited from 
manufacturing in 1994. Again, this is a moderate measure designed to 
keep clips with rounds as high as 250 off our streets and out of the 
hands of young people.
  As the House begins their consideration of the juvenile justice bill 
next week, I hope it will strengthen, not weaken, the moderate gun 
control measures that we passed in the Senate. For example, Congress 
should take steps to prevent unintentional shootings, which occur as a 
result of unsafe storage of guns. These daily tragedies, resulting from 
the careless storage of guns, can easily be prevented by requiring the 
use of locking devices for guns, which are inexpensive and easy to use. 
We should also take steps to eliminate illegal gun trafficking and ban 
semiautomatic assault weapons and handguns for persons under 21 years 
of age.
  The legislation passed in the Senate was a step in the right 
direction, but those moderate reforms are in jeopardy if Congress 
allows our legislative priorities to be dictated by the NRA.

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