[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 14, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1535-E1536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            OUR CONSTITUENTS DEMAND SENSIBLE GUN SAFETY LAWS

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                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 14, 1999

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, the people of Illinois and Indiana, and 
in particular the residents of my district, are beginning the healing 
process after having suffered the violence of hate over the 4th of July 
weekend. I am thankful and grateful for the outstanding effort by 
local, state, and federal law enforcement officials in bringing the 
rampage to an end. I am also proud of my community for never losing 
faith and for having the courage to stand tall in the face of hate.
  The killing and shooting spree took the lives of two men and forever 
changed the lives of

[[Page E1536]]

many others. What happened as we celebrated our Independence Day should 
be a wake up call to Congress to step up, fulfill its duty, and pass 
legislation that protects the lives of our citizens. The mad man who 
committed these heinous crimes bought his guns illegally from an 
unauthorized gun dealer. He was able to do so because the dealer just 
recently purchased more than sixty weapons in a short period of time. 
He did so for the sole purpose of selling them for profit.
  We have a responsibility to protect the lives of our constituents. 
Congress must pass and the President must sign bills to limit the 
purchase of handguns to one per month and to require the registration 
of every handgun sold in the United States. Our constituents demand it 
and our children deserve it.
  Following the killing spree, Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago wrote 
in the Chicago Triune about the need for Congress to immediately pass 
gun safety measures. The people of our state appreciate Mayor Daley's 
unwavering leadership on this issue. He has taken his cause to state 
and federal legislators and made it clear that without passing sensible 
gun safety legislation, we all face the consequences of gun violence.
  I wholeheartedly agree. His remarks follow.

                   CRACKING DOWN ON VIOLENCE AND HATE

                        (By Mayor Richard Daley)

       CHICAGO.--Last weekend Illinois and Indiana became the 
     latest focus of violence across the country resulting from 
     intolerance and hate.
       Like all Chicagoans I am outraged by these hate-based 
     shootings and the damage that has been done to people who 
     were victims for no reason other than their race or religion.
       There is no place in Chicago for hate, hate-related 
     violence or anyone who promotes either. We will never let 
     hate or the violence that flows from it divide us. When acts 
     of bigotry and racism occur, we will stand together against 
     them as one community and one city.
       I want to commend the people of Rogers Park, Skokie, 
     Northbrook, and communities in Downstate Illinois and Indiana 
     for coming together and growing stronger as a result of these 
     tragedies. These shootings are a tragic reminder that each of 
     us has an important responsibility to protect the right of 
     every person--irrespective of his race, religion, ethnic 
     background or sexual orientation--to live life to the 
     fullest, free from violence.
       There is another issue raised by Benjamin Smith's actions 
     the fundamental causes and ramifications of violence in our 
     communities.
       Right now, the Chicago police and the Englewood community 
     are faced with a series of murders of young women. In the 
     wake of those killings, many residents of that community 
     don't feel safe in their own neighborhood. That is 
     unacceptable in Chicago, and that is why the police 
     department has deployed a special task force of investigators 
     to solve those murders.
       There are other steps we can take. Residents across the 
     city have demonstrated that community policing can lead to 
     safer streets.
       We must also work harder to end the easy availability of 
     guns.
       Consider how Smith obtained the handguns he used. He first 
     tried to obtain three weapons from a licensed gun dealer in 
     Peoria Heights but failed a background check and was turned 
     away. That shows that this part of the gun-control system is 
     working--up to a point.
       This case demonstrates the need for even stronger 
     background-check laws. If we had a system that ensured that 
     local authorities were alerted whenever someone who may not 
     legally own a gun attempts to purchase one, Smith might have 
     been stopped before he went on his rampage. Instead Smith was 
     able to purchase his guns from a dealer who was not licensed 
     and who had a history of indiscriminately putting guns on the 
     street. This is the point at which the system failed. It 
     failed for a reason I have been discussing for a long time. 
     There is money to be made in selling guns illegally.
       Currently an individual can legally purchase guns in large 
     quantities at one time and then sell each one of them 
     illegally for a profit. Last November I proposed state and 
     federal legislation to make it illegal to purchase more than 
     one gun per month. This would make it far less profitable for 
     someone to go into the illegal-arms sales business but would 
     not inhibit the rights of legitimate gun owners in any way. 
     Who could possibly need to purchase more than one gun per 
     month for hunting purposes or to protect his or her family?
       We have not yet succeeded in passing this legislation and 
     other gun-control initiatives. On behalf of the victims of 
     the recent shootings and all the victims of gun violence in 
     our city, we will continue our efforts until more effective 
     gun-control measures are law. I will continue to argue that 
     there is no reason why the state of Illinois should not 
     license gun dealers as it does beekeepers, manicurists and 
     taxidermists.
       We can make it harder for the Smiths of this world to 
     succeed in acting on their hate. By taking the profitability 
     out of illegal gun sales, we can make it more likely that, 
     once licensed gun dealers turn down their purchase requests, 
     individuals like Smith will have nowhere else to turn to buy 
     weapons.

     

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