[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 87 (Friday, June 18, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1339]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CONSEQUENCES FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS ACT OF 1999

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                               speech of

                             HON. RICK HILL

                               of montana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 17, 1999

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1501) to 
     provide grants to ensure increased accountability for 
     juvenile offenders:

  Mr. HILL of Montana. Mr. Chairman, people own guns for many reasons. 
They use them for hunting. They use them for recreational shooting. And 
they use them for self defense.
  About 2 million times a year, people use guns to defend themselves, 
their families and businesses.
  So what does this have to do with trigger locks?
  It requires that guns be sold with trigger locks. That doesn't seem 
unreasonable. In fact about 80% of guns sold today are sold with 
trigger locks. That seems pretty reasonable.
  What's wrong with the amendment is that it requires gun owners to 
keep a trigger lock on their guns.
  It accomplishes this by saying that gun owners are liable for the 
criminal use of a stolen gun that was stored without a trigger lock.
  Someone breaks into your home, steals your gun, robs or kills with 
it, and you are held responsible.
  Mr. Chairman, I hold here a trigger lock. In the small print it says 
``don't use on a loaded gun.''
  So what the practical implications of this amendment are:
  You can no longer keep a loaded gun in your night stand to defend 
your family.
  When the armed intruder enters your home, here is what you will have 
to do
  Find the key. Unlock the trigger. Remove the trigger lock. Load the 
gun.
  If that crook is armed, you have no chance of defending yourself.
  Mr. Chairman, there are two groups who really support this amendment:
  Crooks who would invade our homes and harm our families and trial 
lawyers who would be enriched.
  The losers are honest, law abiding citizens who want to defend 
themselves.
  Mr. Chairman, I urge the defeat of this amendment.

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