[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 20 (Thursday, February 16, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S1407]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 COMMONSENSE GUN SAFETY LAWS SAVE LIVES

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, an analysis by the Violence Policy Center, 
VPC, of the most recent data available from the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, CDC, revealed that the national per capita 
death rate from guns was 10.36 people per 100,000 in 2003. In addition, 
10 States had per capita gun death rates of more than 15 gun deaths per 
100,000 people. Not coincidentally, the States with the highest per 
capita gun death rates also have some of the most lax gun safety laws 
in the country. This is further evidence that commonsense gun safety 
laws do save lives.
  Each year the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence produces a ``Gun 
Violence Report Card'' in which it assigns individual States a grade on 
their gun safety laws of A through F. In its analysis, the Brady 
campaign evaluates State gun safety laws on factors such as: whether it 
is illegal for a child to possess a gun without supervision; whether it 
is illegal to sell a gun to a child; whether gun owners are held 
responsible for leaving loaded guns easily accessible to children; 
whether guns are required to have child-safety locks, loaded-chamber 
indicators and other childproof designs; whether cities and counties 
have authority to enact local gun safety laws; whether background 
checks are required at gun shows and between private parties; and, 
whether it is legal to carry concealed handguns in public.
  When the analysis of the CDC gun death data for 2003 is compared with 
the Brady campaign's report card for the same year, we find that the 
States with the lowest rates of gun deaths also received the highest 
grades from the Brady campaign. In fact, four of the five States with 
the lowest gun death rates received an ``A-,'' the highest grade 
awarded by the Brady campaign that year, and the fifth received a 
``B-.'' These five States had an average rate of 3.81 gun deaths per 
100,000 people, less than half of the national average. Conversely, 
four of the five States with the highest rates of gun deaths received 
an ``F,'' while the fifth received a ``D-.'' These five States had an 
average rate of 17.9 gun deaths per 100,000 people.
  According to the Brady campaign, none of the top 15 States with the 
highest rates of gun deaths have laws requiring background checks on 
guns purchased at gun shows or from private sellers. Under current 
Federal law, when an individual buys a firearm from a licensed dealer, 
there are requirements for a background check to ensure that the 
purchaser is not prohibited by law from purchasing or possessing a 
firearm. However, this is not the case for all gun purchases. For 
example, when an individual wants to buy a firearm from a private 
citizen who is not a licensed gun dealer, there is no Federal 
requirement that the seller ensure that the purchaser is not in a 
prohibited category. This creates a loophole in the Federal law, 
providing prohibited purchasers, including convicted criminals, with 
potential easy access to dangerous firearms. Fortunately, some States, 
including the five with the lowest rates of gun deaths, have enacted 
laws to help close this loophole.
  Congress should work to enact national gun safety standards, 
including mandatory background checks on all gun sales, to help reduce 
the high rate of gun deaths across the country. The States who have 
already enacted commonsense gun safety legislation have shown that 
their laws make a difference and we should follow their lead.

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