[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 46 (Wednesday, April 12, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S2611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              GUN VIOLENCE

  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. President, I rise today in support of S. 2390 
which Senator DeWine introduced yesterday. I am proud to be an original 
cosponsor of this legislation. I know that, unlike additional 
infringements on the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans, 
this bill will effectively reduce gun violence and save lives.
  Like many of my colleagues, I am extremely concerned about gun 
violence. In my home state of Arkansas, there are several cities which 
have long been plagued by extraordinarily high levels of violence and 
murder, largely fueled by illegal guns, gangs, and drug trafficking. 
According to the 1998 Uniform Crime Reports, Little Rock, with a 
population of 176,377, North Little Rock with a population of 60,619, 
and Pine Bluff, with a population of 54,062, had 25, 8, and 17 murders 
respectively. The rate of murder per 100,000 inhabitants in North 
Little Rock-Little Rock was 10.3 and it was 33.8 in Pine Bluff and 
significantly exceeded the national rate of 6.3 murders per 100,000 
inhabitants. Nonetheless, I have received literally thousands of 
letters from Arkansas asking me not to support additional gun control 
measures, but rather to simply enforce the laws already in effect.
  My constituents are right. We do not need more gun laws. We just need 
to enforce those already on the books. The facts show that the Clinton 
Administration has not done this; from 1992 to 1998 prosecutions of 
defendants who use a firearm in connection with a felony have decreased 
nearly 50 percent, from 7,045 to approximately 3,800. In addition, 
while more than 500,000 convicted felons and other prohibited 
purchasers have been prevented from purchasing firearms from federally, 
licensed firearms dealers under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevent Act, 
only 200 of these persons have been referred to the United States 
Department of Justice for prosecution. I have carefully studied the 
Project Exile program in Richmond, Virginia and am convinced that it 
saves lives. Before Project Exile was implemented, Richmond was one of 
the nation's murder capitals, and Project Exile resulted in a 40 
percent reduction in the number of murders committed with firearms. 
That is why for the past several months, I have been working to 
implement Arkansas Exile. By supporting S. 2390, I hope to obtain the 
additional funding necessary to allow Arkansas and other states to 
implement a program proven to reduce gun violence.
  Finally, I support S. 2390 because it is the right approach. The 
President and many of my Senate colleagues condemn firearms, which are 
inanimate objects, and the gun industry while ignoring and working to 
overturn the well-established legal principle and a third-party's 
criminal act is an unforeseeable event for which a merchant may not be 
held liable. I am saddened and alarmed that the President and cities 
throughout the nation are using the vast resources for their 
governments to force the gun industry to take responsibility for the 
acts of criminals, and I am determined to do all I can do that the 
criminals, not the gun industry and law-abiding Americans, are held 
responsible for gun violence.

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