[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 137 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S10661]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         OUR LADY OF PEACE ACT

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, a sensible gun safety measure has been 
recently passed by our colleagues in the House of Representatives. The 
``Our Lady of Peace Act'' was first introduced by Representative 
Carolyn McCarthy after Reverend Lawrence Penzes and Eileen Tosner were 
killed at Our Lady of Peace church in Lynbrook, NY on March 12, 2002. 
These deaths may have been prevented if the assailant's misdemeanor and 
mental health records were part of an automated and complete background 
check system.
  According to the House Judiciary Committee Report on the bill, 25 
States have automated less than 60 percent of their felony criminal 
conviction records. While many States have the capacity to fully 
automate their background check systems, 13 States do not automate or 
make domestic violence restraining orders accessible through the 
National Instant Criminal Background Check System, otherwise known as 
NICS. Fifteen States do not automate domestic violence misdemeanor 
records or make them accessible through NICS. Since 1994, the Brady Law 
has successfully prevented more than 689,000 individuals from illegally 
purchasing a firearm. More ineligible firearm purchases could have been 
prevented, and more shooting deaths may have been avoided had state 
records been fully automated.
  The Our Lady of Peace Act would require Federal agencies to provide 
any government records with information relevant to determining the 
eligibility of a person to buy a gun for inclusion in NICS. It would 
also require states to make available any records that would disqualify 
a person from acquiring a firearm, such as records of convictions for 
misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence and individuals adjudicated as 
mentally defective. To make this possible, this bill would authorize 
appropriations for grant programs to assist States, courts, and local 
governments in establishing or improving automated record systems. I 
hope we can move in this direction this Congress or next.

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