[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 140 (Monday, October 30, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S11368]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           FIREARM HOMICIDES

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, last week I submitted a list of some of the 
high profile shootings that took place over the past two years and the 
casualties that occurred as a result. That list was long, far too long. 
The number of shootings, in schools and public places, have claimed the 
lives of too many Americans, especially our young people.
  I believe all of us want to know why children in the United States 
seem more vulnerable to gun violence than children in other 
industrialized nations? Some would argue that it is because American 
children are watching movies and television programs that are 
disturbingly violent. Some say that our children are lacking in 
religious influences. Certainly, these may be factors, and we should do 
everything we can to steer our kids in the right direction, but if we 
are going to protect children's lives, we must first and foremost limit 
our children's access to guns.
  I have repeatedly made the point that Canadian children, who play the 
same video games and watch the same movies are much safer than their 
American counterparts. The reason-- Canadian laws successfully limit 
minors' access to firearms while American laws do not.
  How else can one explain that during the year 1999 in Detroit, 
Michigan there were 337 homicides committed with firearms (Source: 
Michigan State Police). For the same year, in Windsor, Ontario, a city 
less than half a mile away from Detroit, there was just a single 
firearm homicide (Source: Windsor Police Services). In one year, 337 
firearm homicides in Detroit versus one in Windsor, even though the 
children in these cities often listen to the same radio stations and 
watch the exact same television programs. That is a shocking statistic, 
one that should jolt this Congress to action. Unfortunately, to my 
great disappointment, this Congress will adjourn without doing a single 
thing to protect our children from gun violence in Detroit or anywhere 
else in America.

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