[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 16 (Friday, February 10, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1070-S1071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                MAKE GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION A PRIORITY

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, last month was declared ``Guns Aside 
Month'' by the DC City Council in honor of the grassroots campaign 
known by the same name. The Guns Aside campaign is run by a DC 
community organization named Reaching Out to Others Together, or ROOT.
  Washington, DC, resident Kenneth Barnes established ROOT after his 
son was shot to death in 2001. According to its Web site, ROOT is 
``committed to advocacy, education, and intervention on behalf of 
individuals and families who have been victimized by homicides. Its 
mission is to bring visibility and focus community and organizational 
resources on these homicides on behalf of families, while addressing 
the root causes of the systemic apathy that fosters a culture of 
violence in our communities today.''
  Among other things, Kenneth Barnes and other ROOT members work with 
the DC police and local and national organizations to help address the 
needs of families who have been affected by gun violence and homicide. 
ROOT also works with community organizations to develop violence 
prevention strategies and better coordinate their efforts.
  ROOT's Guns Aside campaign began in September 2004 as a multimedia 
outreach program targeted at young people. As part of the campaign, 
ROOT members have visited schools and held

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workshops and mentoring programs while working to build cooperative 
relationships with law enforcement personnel, businesses, and local 
government officials. Kenneth Barnes and ROOT recently announced plans 
to expand the Guns Aside program to the top 15 cities affected by gun 
violence around the country.
  Ironically, September 29, 2004 marked not only the start of the Guns 
Aside campaign, but also the passage of the misnamed ``District of 
Columbia Personal Protection Act'' by the House of Representatives. 
Among other things, that legislation would repeal local laws in 
Washington, D.C. that ban the sale and possession of unregistered 
firearms, require firearm registration, impose common sense safe 
storage requirements, and ban semiautomatic weapons.
  The Senate did not make the mistake of passing that legislation 
during the 108th Congress. However, the bill was reintroduced last year 
and the National Rifle Association has labeled it a ``top legislative 
priority'' for this year.
  I hope that the House and Senate Republican Congressional leadership 
will reward the work of organizations like ROOT and reject the efforts 
of NRA lobbyists. We should respect the will of the people of 
Washington, DC, with regard to local gun safety laws and work to 
support the efforts of antigun violence organizations around the 
country by passing commonsense gun safety legislation.

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