[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 152 (Tuesday, November 2, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S13683]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. Lautenberg):
  S. 1845. A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit 
the sale or transfer of a firearm or ammunition to an intoxicated 
person; to the Committee on the Judiciary.


                    gun sales to intoxicated persons

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, last July, when the Senate 
considered the Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill, I offered an 
amendment to prohibit the sale of guns to people who were intoxicated.

  State and local laws prohibit intoxicated people from operating a 
car, a boat, a snowmobile, a plane, an all-terrain vehicle, or a 
bicycle. There is even one state law that prohibits an intoxicated 
person from getting a tattoo. In addition, federal law prohibits an 
intoxicated person from enlisting in the military. And, federal gun 
laws prohibit the sale of a gun to a drug user.
  My amendment simply built on this record. All it said is that if you 
are intoxicated, you cannot buy a gun or ammunition. To me, it just 
makes common sense that someone who is drunk should not be able to buy 
a gun. And, the Senate agreed because my amendment was passed 
unanimously.
  Unfortunately, Mr. President, the conference committee dropped this 
provision from the bill. I am extremely disappointed that such a 
common-sense proposal would be abandoned by the Senate leadership.
  So, today, I am introducing--along with my colleague, Senator 
Lautenberg--this very reasonable proposal as a free-standing bill.
  Mr. President, guns and alcohol do not mix. A 1997 study in the 
Journal of American Medical Association found that ``alcohol and 
illicit drug use appear to be associated with an increased risk of 
violent death.'' And as the two stories I want to share today 
illustrate, alcohol is also associated with an increased risk of 
serious injury.
  The first story is about a woman by the name of Deborah Kitchen. She 
is a quadriplegic, and she got that way because her ex-boyfriend shot 
her.
  On the day of the shooting, Deborah's boyfriend, Thomas Knapp, 
consumed--by his own estimate--a fifth of whiskey and a case of beer. 
He went to K-Mart in Florida to buy a .22-caliber rifle and a box of 
bullets. Mr. Knapp was so intoxicated that the clerk had to help him 
fill out the federal form required to purchase the gun. But he was 
still able to buy the rifle.
  Mr. Knapp then took that rifle, shot his ex-girlfriend Deborah 
Kitchen, and left her a quadriplegic.
  The second story is from Michigan. It involves an 18-year-old named 
Walter McKay, who had engaged in a day-long drinking spree and then 
went and bought ammunition for his shotgun. He was so intoxicated that 
he could not remember whether it was a man or woman who sold him the 
ammunition and could not identify what he purchased.
  He took those shotgun shells, loaded his gun, and intended to shoot 
out the back window of an acquaintance's truck. He was intoxicated. The 
shot missed, ricocheted off the wheel of the truck, and hit Anthony 
Buczkowski. Mr. Buczkowski had to have a finger amputated and his left 
wrist surgically fused.
  Mr. Knapp and Mr. McKay could buy a gun and ammunition because it is 
not--I repeat, not--against the law to sell a gun or ammunition to 
someone who is intoxicated.
  Mr. President, as I mentioned earlier, states and localities have all 
sorts of laws prohibiting people who are intoxicated from doing certain 
things. But, I am unaware of a single state law that prohibits someone 
who is drunk from buying a gun or ammunition.
  It would be nice if states would act. But, gun sales are largely 
regulated at the federal level and involve federal licenses and federal 
forms. This is a federal responsibility, and there should be a federal 
law that stops this outrage.
  That is what my bill does. If you are intoxicated, you would not be 
able to buy a gun or ammunition. It is very reasonable, and it will 
save lives.

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