[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 19, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H2128-H2129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             NO FLY, NO BUY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, for years people have been hearing me 
talk about gun violence in this country, and the debates over tougher 
gun laws have been defined as ``social issues.''
  Gun violence has had tragic consequences for so many families, 
including my own. Gun violence presents a tremendous burden to our 
police departments, and I see it in my own district on Long Island 
where we are dealing with so many gangs. With the expiration of the 
assault weapons ban, many police departments will be outgunned by gangs 
and criminals. That is why basically we had the assault weapons ban put 
in place back in 1994.
  Gun violence also costs this society over $100 billion a year. Most 
of that $100 billion is paid with tax dollars. It is estimated each 
shooting costs our economy $1 million in health care, police work, and 
lost productivity.
  Mr. Speaker, the social costs of gun violence are ever increasing, 
but since September 11, the threat of gun violence has become an 
important homeland security issue as well.
  We are at war, and our lack of tough gun laws allows our enemies to 
arm themselves right here in our country. People can go to gun shows 
and be able to buy guns. They can go into different gun stores across 
this country with false ID and be able to buy guns. We know through the 
FBI that 44 times just since January the terrorists that have been on a 
no-fly list have been able to go and buy those guns. In all but nine 
instances, the purchases were allowed to go through. Affiliation with a 
terrorist group does not appear on any background checklist whatsoever.
  There certainly have been many more instances of suspected members of 
terrorist groups trying to buy guns since then. But since the Justice 
Department destroys background check records after only 24 hours, we 
will never know, unfortunately, until there is a tragedy.
  So not only are we allowing suspected terrorists to arm themselves, 
we are also destroying the records indicating how many guns they have 
bought and how many they own. We are destroying critical intelligence 
in the war on terror.
  The question my constituents ask me all the time or when I go around 
the country and speak is, ``Why are these people allowed to buy guns in 
the first place?'' It defies common sense. We saw what these terrorists 
are capable of, armed with only box cutters purchased at a hardware 
store; and starting last week, people are not even allowed to bring a 
cigarette lighter onto a plane. Then why do we make it so easy for our 
enemies to buy firearms and ammunition within our borders?
  Since 9/11 we have adopted a multitude of new laws in the wake of the 
war on terror, and I agree with those laws.

                              {time}  1930

  No one is spared from the reach of these new laws. Some of these laws 
may be an inconvenience for some; but if it prevents one terrorist from 
boarding a plane, it is a good law. But our gun laws are dangerously 
out of step with the war on terror. The same people who cannot board a 
plane can walk into a gun store and purchase a hand-held weapon of mass 
destruction. By the way, that is assault weapons, also. This is 
ridiculous.
  Let me set the record straight. I am not out to take away the guns of 
any law-abiding citizen. We need commonsense gun safety regulations 
that protect law-abiding gun owners while making it tougher for 
terrorists and criminals to obtain these guns. That is why I have 
introduced the No Fly No Buy bill.
  This bill would deny those on the Transportation Security 
Administration's No Fly List from purchasing firearms in this country. 
Granted, the No Fly List includes some law-abiding citizens who are on 
the list in error. But it is the only Federal terrorist watch list that 
allows innocent people to get their names removed. Other Federal lists 
without practical application may be just as inaccurate, but afford no 
due process to those wrongly listed. My bill would ensure that those 
people incorrectly listed on the No Fly List would be able to get their 
names off the list as soon as possible; and then they would be able to 
complete their gun purchase, no questions asked. Again, an 
inconvenience for some, but necessary steps to ensure terrorists are 
not buying guns in our country.
  The Federal Government is charged with protecting us from terror. 
That is what 9/11 has taught us. I understand the second amendment 
concerns of law-abiding gun owners. These laws can coexist with 
responsible people's rights to hunt and protect their families. 
Responsible gun ownership is a right of all law-abiding Americans, but 
we must also have a responsibility to protect law-abiding Americans 
from acts of terror and crime.
  Mr. Speaker, we are seeing gangs across this Nation multiply, and we 
also know that they still have easy access to get guns. We can stop 
this crime wave that we see going through our country. We should be 
stopping this. We can save certainly an awful lot of money on medical 
costs. Our communities, all of a sudden, they are asking themselves, is 
it safe to go out at

[[Page H2129]]

night. We have cut back on our police officers; we have let the assault 
weapons bill expire; we now cannot even have our police officers check 
to see if a criminal has bought a gun because in 24 hours the records 
are destroyed.
  We are not going in the right direction. We can make a difference. I 
hope people will support this bill.

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