[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 87 (Monday, June 27, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H5220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NICS/GUN SHOW LOOPHOLE/NO FLY, NO BUY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kuhl of New York). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, many here in this Chamber, each and every 
one of us came to Congress to try and make a difference, and each one 
of us are trying to make that difference.
  I came to Congress to try and reduce gun violence in this Nation. And 
many people have heard me talk about this for close to 8\1/2\ years 
now. What I want to talk about tonight are three pieces of legislation 
that I have and why I feel they are so important, especially in the 
climate that we have.
  We are post-9/11 now, and I think what we need to do is start looking 
at our gun laws that are here today and how we can make this country 
safer, certainly being part of our homeland security.
  One of the bills that I think is probably extremely important is the 
NICS Improvement Act. Unfortunately, I had a tragedy back in my 
district going back 3 years ago, where a person came into one of our 
local churches and ended up shooting the priest and a parishioner. On 
further investigation, we found out that New York State actually had a 
record where he should not have been able to buy a gun. But being that 
they did not give that information to the NICS system, and we all know 
that a computer is only as good as the system that has the information 
in it.
  Now, with that we did legislation, it actually passed here in the 
House by a voice vote, and I think it is important that we get that 
going again and get that improved.
  And another reason why, many of us are experiencing high volumes of 
gangs in our community. And it was only a few months ago that some 
gangs that were caught by our local police, who did a great job, traced 
the guns that these young people had, and they were bought legally in 
Alabama. And I say that, legally. But, again, if they had tried to buy 
them in New York, they would have been in the system. They were in the 
system and basically they would not have been able to buy the gun if 
the NICS system had the correct information in it.
  Right now, 25 States have entered less than 60 percent of the 
convictions of why some people should not be able to buy guns. Thirteen 
States do not list domestic violence convictions and restraining 
orders. And unfortunately, that was one of the things with Mr. Troy, 
who did the shooting in the parish church. His mother actually had a 
restraining order on him.
  Thirty-three States do not share mental health records. Now, I know 
there is an argument there that we are picking on people with mental 
health problems. That is not it. We are saying that people that come 
under adjudication under the system are denied the right to buy a gun. 
The privacy issue is kept in place. Mainly, if you are denied on a gun, 
all it does is come up rejected; it does not say for what area that you 
were rejected. And I think it is important that we get this bill up on 
the system. This way we will be able to certainly prevent people that 
should not be able to buy guns, by law under the 1968 Gun Control Act, 
which is only enforcing the law that is already on the books. We had 
terrific bipartisan support in the 107th Congress, and I think it is 
something that we should be doing to move around.
  The gun show loophole. I know we had our battles here on the gun show 
loophole, but even information again for post, 9/11, the FBI has found 
that over 40 ``terrorists'' on the terrorist watch list have gone into 
gun shows and been able to buy AK-47s and other guns.
  Now, it is common sense that those that go buy a gun, and 13 States 
have already passed legislation, it has not stopped anyone from buying 
a gun. It has not closed down any gun shows, because I know that many 
of our friends in the Midwest, this is a family weekend. They go out 
and spend a day there and that is fine. I do not have a problem with 
that. But I think the majority of people agree with me, if you are 
going to buy a gun, you need to go through a background check. I think 
that is the basic law that we could do.
  The other thing that really perturbs me, and by the way this actually 
goes into my third bill, no fly, no buy list. Right now we have a list, 
a terrorist list, and they are not allowed to get onto a plane. And yet 
they can go into any gun store, they can go to any gun show and are 
able to buy a gun. I do not think that makes too much common sense. We 
should be stopping these people from being able to buy their guns.
  Think about what happened here in D.C. a few years ago. One person, 
two people with a gun, certainly kept D.C. and the surrounding area 
petrified, and millions of dollars was lost.
  Imagine these terrorists. You know, people, I think, are starting to 
become, feel too safe. We know that terrorists will strike when no one 
is paying attention. And as long as we pay attention to detail, we can 
stop these terrorists from doing bodily harm. No fly, no buy.
  I understand that when you look at foreign countries, sometimes 
people are prosecuted. That would not be the same here in this country. 
We know that there are political reasons why they might be thrown in 
jail. We have a way of being able to adjudicate that.
  And also, the list that I chose for this bill is on a list where 
people can actually go to it and get off the list. And I think that is 
important because we certainly do not want to deny anyone.
  The three bills that I have introduced are not going to stop anyone 
from being able to buy a gun. Their second amendment rights are 
protected.
  I made a promise when I came to Congress that I would reduce gun 
violence in this country. But I also am not here to try and take away 
the right of anyone to own a gun. That is a personal decision for many 
of us.
  Some of us do not like guns. I used to do skeet shooting. It was not 
my sport. That is certainly up to me. Yet, I know there are many people 
around this Nation that like to go hunting. And we have always said, 
going back since 1994, they will be able to go hunting. We are not 
trying to take away the right to own the gun. But we must enforce the 
laws that are on the books and make this a safer country.

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