[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 3 (Thursday, January 9, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S123]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    POLICE OFFICERS ARE BEING KILLED

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, late last year, the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation released its annual report on Law Enforcement Officers 
Killed and Assaulted in 2001. According to the report, there were 136 
law enforcement officers killed in 30 States. The tragic events of 
September 11, 2001, claimed the lives of 72 officers. Excluding these 
72 lives, the number of officers killed in 2001 increased over 37 
percent, from 51 officer fatalities in 2000 to 70 in 2001. A closer 
examination of data shows that firearms were used in 61 of the officer 
murders, and of those, handguns were responsible for 46. The handgun of 
choice was the 9 millimeter. In my home State of Michigan, Clinton 
Township, the city of Detroit, and the Federal Protective Service in 
Detroit each lost an officer in 2001. One of these officers worked in 
the building in which my Detroit office is located.
  In 1994, the Brady law established the National Instant Criminal 
Background Check System, NICS. The creation of this check system allows 
federally licensed gun sellers to quickly determine whether an 
individual is eligible to purchase a firearm. Since its inception, NICS 
checks have prevented more than 156,000 felons, fugitives, and others 
not eligible from purchasing a firearm without infringing upon any law-
abiding individual's ability to buy a firearm. However, a loophole in 
the law allows unlicensed private gun sellers to sell guns without 
conducting a NICS background check.
  During the last Congress, Senator Reed introduced the Gun Show 
Background Check Act. I cosponsored that bill because I believe it is a 
critical tool in preventing guns from getting into the hands of 
criminals and other ineligible buyers. This bill would simply apply 
existing law governing background checks to individuals buying firearms 
at gun shows. As reflected in the FBI report, preventing easy and 
unchecked access to guns is critical in preventing police deaths and 
gun violence. That is why it is supported by major law enforcement 
organizations including the International Association of Chiefs of 
Police, the National Troopers Coalition, the International Brotherhood 
of Police Officers, the Police Executive Research Forum, the Major 
Cities Chiefs, the National Association of School Resource Officers, 
the National Black Police Association, the National Organization of 
Black Law Enforcement Executives, and the Hispanic American Police 
Command Officers Association.
  We must stand by our Nation's law enforcement community and take this 
commonsense step to reduce gun violence. I urge all of my colleagues to 
join me in supporting this legislation when it is reintroduced during 
this Congress.

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