[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 45 (Tuesday, April 11, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2486-S2487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    COMMONSENSE GUN CONTROL MEASURES

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, last week, by a bipartisan vote of 53-47, 
the Senate adopted the Reed amendment to the budget resolution calling 
on the conference committee on the juvenile justice bill to submit a 
report by April 20 of this year, which is the 1-year anniversary of the 
tragedy at Columbine High School, and include in that report 
commonsense gun control provisions which this Senate passed last May.
  These provisions include an amendment that child safety locks be sold 
with all handguns; an amendment to close the gun show loopholes so a 
complete background check can be done on all purchasers at gun shows; a 
ban on the importation of high-capacity ammunition clips; and a ban on 
juvenile possession of semi-automatic assault weapons.
  We adopted the Reed amendment, sponsored by many and supported by 53 
Senators, because we wanted to send a message to the leadership of the 
House and Senate that America has waited too long for us to respond to 
the tragedy at Columbine High School, too long to respond to the 
pervasive floodtide of gun violence that every day kills 12 American 
children.
  We have been down this road before. In 1993 and 1994, after a long 
legislative battle, we were able to pass the Brady law and the assault 
weapons ban over the objections of the gun lobby and their allies in 
Congress. Since 1993, we have seen a 20 percent reduction in crime in 
the United States. Gun crimes in particular fell 37 percent between 
1993 and 1998.
  No one can claim the Brady law or the assault weapons ban alone was 
the cause of this decline. There are other factors. We also know that 
preventing 500,000 felons, fugitives, and other prohibited purchasers 
from easily obtaining firearms has made a significant contribution to 
that reduction in gun violence.
  The American people were with us when we passed those commonsense gun 
initiatives in 1993 and 1994, and they are with us today. Eighty-nine 
percent of Americans favor requiring a background check on all sales at 
gun shows. A similar percentage, 89 percent, favors requiring child 
safety locks be sold with all handguns.

  Unfortunately, the gun lobby and its allies in Congress are trying to 
hide behind a claim there is inaction in enforcement, arguing that we 
need tougher enforcement, not new gun laws.
  We agree, we need good, strong enforcement of our gun laws. We need 
additional resources devoted to this task. That is why we support the 
President's request for substantial new resources for gun law 
enforcement, including 1,000 new prosecutors, 500 new ATF agents and 
inspectors, an expansion of the Project Exile program to toughen 
sentences for gun crimes, and new ballistics testing procedures. We 
need all these things.
  But the gun lobby presents us with a false choice between tougher 
enforcement or more legislation. The American people know we need both. 
You cannot enforce a loophole. We need legislation to close these 
loopholes so our

[[Page S2487]]

authorities can truly and effectively and efficiently enforce the law.
  The gun show loophole is just one example. When one-quarter or more 
of dealers at gun shows are unlicensed and therefore are not subject to 
the Brady background checks--they do not have to check the background 
of the purchaser--it does not take a genius to figure out, if a 
prohibited person seeks to purchase a weapon, where they will go. They 
will go right to those unlicensed dealers at the gun shows.
  Under current law, someone who is a felon, someone who is prohibited 
from purchasing a firearm under the Brady law, and other laws, could go 
to an unlicensed dealer at a gun show and purchase as many weapons as 
he or she wanted without any type of background check, and they would 
not be effectively screened for the acquisition of a firearm.
  Senator Lautenberg has many times on this floor pointed to Robyn 
Anderson--the woman who went to a Colorado gun show with Dylan Klebold 
and Eric Harris to help them buy 3 of the guns they used to kill 13 
people at Columbine High School--who has said that the process was much 
too easy. In fact, it is reported that Harris and Klebold repeatedly 
asked dealers at the gun show if they were licensed or unlicensed, 
eventually finding a private seller, an unlicensed seller, in order to 
avoid paperwork and background checks.
  What could be clearer? What could be more compelling for the need to 
close this loophole than the demonstration that these two young men 
were clever enough--and, frankly, the law is so wide open, you do not 
have to be that clever--to find a way to purchase weapons when they 
were supposed to be prevented from doing it? And they did.
  Robyn Anderson later testified before the Colorado legislature, 
saying:

       It was too easy. I wish it had been more difficult. I 
     wouldn't have helped them buy the guns if I had faced a 
     background check.

  We need to move promptly and swiftly to pass the Lautenberg amendment 
which was included in the juvenile justice bill to close this loophole 
and give our authorities the leverage they need to truly enforce the 
laws. The time has come for action. We have waited for an entire year. 
That wait is unforgivable. The memories of those students and what 
happened there linger. We should have done something much sooner than 
this. But we have a chance.
  What is even worse is that Congress is about to go into a recess at 
the end of this week. So when all of those grieving families in 
Colorado and across the country come together on April 20 to ask, 
``What have we done,'' not only will we say ``nothing,'' but we will be 
far from the center of Washington where we should have done something. 
We can pass this legislation.

  What kind of message does that send, not only to the people of 
Columbine but the families of thousands and thousands of people who die 
each year? Over half of them are not killed in some type of 
confrontation; over half of them are killed by accidents and suicides.
  We have to do something. We can do something. If we had safety locks 
on weapons, that could help, or we could think about, as some States 
do, having a waiting period. We used to have a waiting period with the 
Brady bill, but, again, to get that legislation through the Congress, 
we had to--as soon as the instant check system was put into place--
abandon the waiting period.
  There is more we can do.
  Finally, I thank those Republican and Democratic Senators who joined 
last week to pass the Reed amendment, to send a strong signal to the 
leadership that we have to do something--words are insufficient--to 
express truly what we should express with respect to the tragedy at 
Columbine.
  We need action. We need legislation. We need laws that will give our 
enforcement authorities the tools to do the job and do it well. 
Although the time is dwindling away, I hope we can move quickly so that 
on April 20 we will not only commemorate a tragedy but celebrate the 
passage of legislation that will help prevent, I hope, future 
tragedies.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska is recognized for up 
to 75 minutes.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I thank the Chair and wish the occupant of the Chair a 
good day.

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