[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 14 (Friday, February 6, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        GUN SAFETY REPORT CARDS

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, earlier this month, the Brady Campaign to 
Prevent Gun Violence, united with the Million Mom March and the 
Nation's leading State-based gun violence prevention groups, published 
the annual gun safety report cards for every State in America. The 
report cards are the culmination of a comprehensive analysis of each 
State's gun safety laws.
  The report cards rate each State on seven types of laws that protect 
children from gun violence. Extra credit and demerits are also assigned 
for other State gun laws. The Brady Campaign includes in its analysis 
such questions as: is it illegal for a child to possess a gun without 
supervision? Is it illegal to sell a gun to a child? Are gun owners 
held responsible for leaving loaded guns easily accessible to children? 
Are guns required to have child safety locks, loaded-chamber indicators 
and other childproof designs? Do cities and counties have authority to 
enact local gun laws? Are background checks required at gun shows? Is 
it legal to carry concealed handguns in public?
  The report awarded 10 States with Sensible Safety Stars for 
protecting children from gun violence. Nine other States were sent to 
the ``Time-Out Chair'' for weakening State gun laws. Unfortunately, 31 
States received grades of D or F in this year's report cards. Not 
surprisingly, according to the report, States receiving Ds and Fs tend 
to have child and teen firearm death rates that are higher than the 
national average. For example, the average firearms death rate of youth 
in the 8 States that received an F grade was 33 percent higher than the 
average firearms death rate for the 10 States that received an A or a 
B.
  I applaud the efforts of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence 
to keep the pressure on State and local legislators to enact sensible 
gun safety legislation, and I encourage my colleagues to review this 
report.

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