[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 151 (Friday, October 24, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S13206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TERRORIST FIREARMS DETECTION ACT OF 2003

  Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, I express my support for the Terrorist 
Firearms Detection Act, a bill introduced earlier this week by Senator 
Kennedy. Originally passed in 1988, and sometimes called the ``plastic 
gun'' law, this Federal law makes it illegal for any person to 
manufacture, import, ship, deliver, possess, transfer or receive any 
firearm that is not detectable by walk-through metal detectors or the 
type of x-ray machines commonly used at airports.
  Since September 11, 2001, the Congress has worked hard to improve the 
security of our borders, airports, government buildings, and 
communities. However, in just over 2 months, on December 10, this 
essential common sense gun safety legislation is set to expire. The 
Terrorist Firearms Detection Act would permanently reauthorize the 
plastic gun law. Plastic guns, whose production has been endorsed by 
the National Rifle Association, should only be used by our military and 
intelligence agencies and must never find their way back into our 
communities.
  This legislation has the support of every major gun safety 
organization in the country, including the Brady Campaign to Prevent 
Violence United with the Million Mom March, Americans for Gun Safety, 
and the Violence Policy Center.
  The overwhelming majority of my colleagues would agree that plastic 
guns pose a clear and present danger to our nation's aviation security, 
as well as governmental targets across the country. In fact, Pete 
Shields, the former president of Handgun Control, the predecessor 
organization to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Violence, said it well in 
testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in 1988.

       Weapons which evade security devices put us all at risk. 
     Every airport, every courthouse, every public building which 
     relies on screening devices for security will no longer be 
     safe. At a time when our Nation is committing vast resources 
     and energies to stopping terrorism and protecting our 
     citizens abroad, we should not even consider making it easier 
     for terrorists to operate in our own country.

  I urge my colleagues in the Congress to act quickly to enact this 
legislation, and I also hope that President Bush will soon sign this 
important gun safety legislation into law.

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