[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 59 (Monday, May 9, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S4642]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             SUPPORTING RESPONSIBLE GUN STORAGE LEGISLATION

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, two separate accidental shootings in 
Detroit on April 22 of this year left one 13-year-old boy dead and a 9-
year-old boy critically wounded. These tragedies should remind us again 
that much more must be done to prevent access to guns by children.
  According to published reports, both of these shootings involved 
children playing with guns inside their own homes. In both cases, the 
guns accidentally discharged and shot the victim in the head. In 
reference to the accidental shooting of the 9-year-old boy, Lieutenant 
James Tolbert of the Detroit Police Department commented, ``This is an 
unfortunate and needless incident that would have been prevented if 
people would make sure that a weapon in the home is secure and out of 
reach.'' In addition, Lieutenant Tolbert suggested that similar 
shootings could be prevented through the use of trigger locks or the 
storage of ammunition separate from the gun.
  Recent research supports Lieutenant Tolbert's suggestions. A study 
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 
the application of responsible gun storage measures can significantly 
reduce the risk of unintentional shooting or suicide by minors using a 
gun. According to the study, when ammunition in the home is locked up, 
the risk of such injuries is reduced by 61 percent. Simply storing 
ammunition separately from the gun reduces such occurrences by more 
than 50 percent.
  According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, teenagers 
and children are involved in more than 10,000 accidental shootings in 
which close to 800 people die each year. Reducing the number of 
accidental shootings involving children and teenagers requires that 
commonsense gun storage measures be adopted.
  During the 108th Congress, I joined with 69 of my colleagues in 
voting for Senator Boxer's trigger lock amendment. Senator Boxer's 
amendment would have required that all handguns sold by a dealer come 
with a child safety device, such as a lock, a lock box, or technology 
built into the gun itself that would increase the security of the 
weapon while in storage. Although the underlying gun industry immunity 
bill to which this amendment was attached was later defeated, the 
support for Senator Boxer's proposal is clear.
  Requiring that guns be stored in a responsible manner could have 
prevented many of the accidental shootings we have seen in Detroit and 
around the country. I am hopeful that Congress will work to limit 
children's access to guns so that fewer families will have to endure 
the loss of their child because of a preventable accident.

                          ____________________