[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 53 (Thursday, May 2, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S3835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        THE UNTOLD STORY OF MURDER-SUICIDE IN THE UNITED STATES

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, according to a report on murder-suicides 
released last month by the Violence Policy Center, a firearm is the 
weapon most frequently used to murder the victims, with the offenders 
then taking their own lives. The study notes that easy access to a gun 
was the decisive component for almost all of the murder-suicides. Of 
the 54 murder-suicides reviewed in this study, 52 were firearm-related. 
If these people had not had access to a firearm, some of these deaths 
may not have occurred.
  There is a piece of legislation in the Senate I believe would help 
prevent easy access to firearms by felons, those determined to be 
mentally ill by a court, those individuals with domestic violence 
misdemeanors and restraining orders, and others prohibited by law from 
owning a firearm. In April of last year, Senator Jack Reed introduced 
the Gun Show Background Check Act. The Reed bill, which is supported by 
the International Association of Chiefs of Police, extends the Brady 
bill background check requirement to all sellers of firearms at gun 
shows. I cosponsored that bill because I believe it is critical that we 
do all we can to prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands.
  Mr. President, I believe this piece of legislation would be one of 
many things we can do to address the problem of easy access to guns.

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