[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 79 (Friday, June 14, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S5583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     DOMESTIC VIOLENCE GROUPS SUPPORT CLOSING THE GUN SHOW LOOPHOLE

  Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, since 1968 it has been illegal for 
convicted felons, illegal aliens, individuals involuntarily committed 
to a mental health facility, individuals who have renounced their 
citizenship, drug addicts, those dishonorably discharged from the 
military, and fugitives who possess or purchase a firearm. In 1996, 
Congress passed legislation to extend the prohibition on firearms to 
individuals who were under a domestic violence restraining order or 
convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor. I supported that 
legislation because of growing evidence that people who had committed 
acts of domestic violence were buying guns and using them.
  According to the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, 
40 percent of women killed with firearms are murdered by an intimate 
partner. According to a Violence Policy Center analysis, a woman is 14 
times more likely to be murdered by a spouse, intimate acquaintance or 
close relative if there has been a history of domestic violence. And, 
having one or more guns in the home makes a woman more than seven times 
more likely to be the victim of homicide.
  The threat posed by some domestic abusers was highlighted by a 
Federal court case, Emerson v. United States. Timothy Joe Emerson was 
subject to a domestic violence restraining order that required him to 
stay away from his wife and her young daughter. Because of the 
restraining order, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm. Emerson 
was indicted for violating that provision after an incident in which he 
threatened his wife with a Beretta pistol and pointed it at her child. 
This is not an isolated case, and we need to prevent these people from 
possessing and purchasing firearms.
  On Wednesday morning my staff met with Kathy Hagenian of the Michigan 
Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. Kathy is in Washington 
this week as part of the National Network to End Domestic Violence 
Annual Meeting and Legislative Day. The Coalition's mission is to 
combat all domestic and sexual violence by supporting prevention and 
intervention programs in communities throughout the State of Michigan. 
One of the issues she raised was her organization's support of Senator 
Reed's Gun Show Background Check Act. I, too, support this common sense 
gun safety legislation. This bill would simply apply the background 
checks that are mandatory for guns purchased in stores to gun shows.
  In 1996, the Congress closed the domestic violence loophole. Now it 
is time to close the gun show loophole. The lack of background checks 
at gun shows leaves battered women and their children vulnerable to 
violence. I urge my colleagues to support this important gun safety 
legislation.

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