[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 121 (Thursday, September 16, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11046-S11047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THE ABCs OF GUN CONTROL

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, students in Detroit are now back in school, 
just like their peers across the river in Windsor, Ontario. Each 
classroom of students is going through virtually the same routine. They 
are writing about their summer vacations, obtaining textbooks, signing 
up for sports teams, and trying to memorize locker combinations. They 
are figuring out bus routes, testing new backpacks and worrying about 
that third period teacher who assigns too much homework. There is just 
one major difference between the students in Detroit and those in 
Windsor. Students in Detroit have to worry about guns in school.
  In the United States, another classroom of children is killed by 
firearms every two days. That doesn't mean that every few days, there 
is another Columbine mass murder. But statistics show that each day 13 
children die from gunfire, and every two days, the equivalent of a 
classroom of American children is struck by the tragedy of gun 
violence. In Windsor, the Canadian town

[[Page S11047]]

that borders Detroit, there were only 4 firearm homicides in 1997. In 
Detroit, for that same year, there were 354 firearm homicides. If the 
population of Detroit and Windsor were equal, the number of firearm 
deaths would be nearly eighteen times higher in Detroit, a city less 
than 1,000 yards away.
  I'd like to include in the Record, an op-ed printed in the USA Today, 
showing the differences between Canadian and American death rates 
involving firearms, and specifically the differences between Windsor 
and Detroit. If there's one thing Congress needs to study this school 
year, it's how to rewrite the books and end the senseless slaughter of 
our school children.
  I ask unanimous consent that the article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                  [From the USA Today, Aug. 30, 1999]

                   Canada Shows Gun Restrictions Work

                          (By Paul G. Labadie)

       I was crossing the bridge that spans the one-half mile of 
     the Detroit River, a physical buffer separating Detroit from 
     Windsor, Ontario. The lineup at the Canadian Customs 
     checkpoint was unusually long. Inching forward, I finally 
     arrive at the custom agents' booth.
       ``Citizenship?'' he asks.
       ``United States,'' I reply.
       ``Are there any firearms in the vehicle or on your 
     person?''
       ``No.''
       The customs agent shined a flashlight behind the seats as 
     he circled my car.
       ``You're sure, no long guns, handguns, shotguns?''
       ``No, none.''
       ``No ammunition, bullets?''
       ``None,'' I replied.
       After a search of my trunk and a last looking over, he 
     waved me through.
       I later found out the reason for the guard's concerns. 
     Someone had been caught with a gun in Windsor.
       In Canada, that's all it takes. Its strict policies on gun 
     ownership are strongly enforced and get progressively 
     tougher, with even more stringent laws set to go into effect 
     in the year 2001. To argue against the results of their 
     efforts would be foolhardy, as the statistics are too 
     impressive.
       In 1997, Detroit had 354 firearm homicides. Windsor, 1,000 
     yards away, had only 4. Even taking into account the 
     population difference (Windsor's population is about one-
     fifth of Detroit's) the comparison is still staggering. And 
     as of July, with Detroit opening its first casino, both 
     cities have legalized gambling. It will be elementary for 
     gamblers to calculate on which side of the river the better 
     odds lie of reaching your car in the parking lot unscathed.
       To many Americans, the Canadian solution of handgun bans 
     and restrictions is, at the least, unpalatable and, at the 
     most, unconstitutional. Instead of dealing with the situation 
     directly and restricting civilian ownership of handguns, it 
     has become fashionable to pick the group of one's choice and 
     point the j'accuse-atory finger: the NRA, profiteering gun 
     manufacturers, absentee parents, genetically flawed children, 
     paranoid gun owners, lazy teachers, a fast and loose legal 
     system, and a society of victims. A multiple-choice public 
     indictment of blame, in which, since everyone is at fault, no 
     one is accountable.
       The recent school shootings in Colorado and Georgia have 
     many laying blame on the media, pointing to television and 
     movies that glorify violence and gunplay, and music that is 
     designed to incite a riot of anger, resentment and sarcasm in 
     youths who are barely off their training wheels.
       But if these mediums are to blame, then how do the youths 
     of Windsor have such immunity? They watch the same TV 
     stations, go to the same movies, listen to the same music as 
     Detroit youths, and yet they have a juvenile crime rate that 
     is a fraction of Detroit's. The lack of availability of 
     handguns certainly must play a role.
       According to the Office of Juvenile Justice, in the States 
     between 1983 and 1993, juvenile homicides involving firearms 
     grew 182%. By contrast, only a 15% increase was seen among 
     homicides involving other types of weapons. In the U.S. from 
     1985 to 1995, 52% of all homicides involved handguns, 
     compared with 14% for Canada.
       Canada's willingness to accept gun restrictions might rise 
     from its history. The settlement of Canada's ``Wild West'' 
     was far different from the settlement of the United States'. 
     In Canada, wherever settlers moved west, law and order was 
     already in place in the form of the Hudson's Bay Company. 
     From that spawned a culture that was more structured, less 
     creative, less violent and more likely to look to established 
     authorities for the settlement of disputes. In the United 
     States, however, as the settlers moved west they found 
     virtually no law existed, causing them to take matters into 
     their own hands. Thus a culture was spawned that was more 
     independent, more creative, more violent and more likely to 
     settle disputes themselves. And when an abundance of numerous 
     and easily available firearms are factored in, the results 
     can be bloody.
       According to statistics, Canada in 1997 had 193 homicides 
     by firearms. The United States had 12,380. It is hard to 
     change a culture, but clearly the easy access to firearms has 
     to be addressed before we can expect any significant drop in 
     our homicide rate.
       I used to be a member of the National Rifle Association. I 
     had the logo on my car, was skilled in the parry and thrust 
     of debates, and was saturated with persuasive data from this 
     organization, which covets statistics more than major league 
     baseball. I am not a member anymore, not because of any 
     complete, radical shift in beliefs, but more from a 
     weariness, a battle fatigue of being caught in the No Man's 
     Land among the immutable NRA, the anti-gun lobby and the 
     evening news, lately filled with terrified schoolchildren, 
     emergency-response crews and black-clad SWAT teams. Perhaps 
     the time has come to lose our ``Wild West'' roots and, at the 
     least, look to put the same restrictions on our guns that we 
     put on our automobiles and the family dog: licensing and 
     registration.
       On my way back to Detroit, I stopped at the American 
     Customs booth. I faced a U.S. customs agent.
       ``Citizenship?'' he asks.
       ``United States,'' I reply.
       He waves his hand to pass me on.
       And I could not help but wonder whether the next students 
     getting diplomas would be the ``Class of 2000'' or the 
     ``Class of .357.''

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