[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 30, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S496-S497]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. Reed, Mr. Menendez, Mrs. 
        Feinstein, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Whitehouse, 
        Mr. Inouye, Mr. Levin, and Mrs. Boxer):
  S. 2577. A bill to establish background check procedures for gun 
shows; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Gun Show 
Background Check Act of 2008. I am proud to be joined by lead cosponsor 
Senator Jack Reed from Rhode Island, as well as Senators Feinstein, 
Kennedy, Menendez, Kerry, Schumer, Whitehouse, Inouye, Levin, and 
Boxer.
  It was almost 9 years ago, on May 20, 1999, that I stood in this 
chamber and urged my colleagues to close the gun show loophole once and 
for all.
  Barely 1 month earlier, two teenagers had shot and killed 12 students 
and one teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. None 
of us will ever forget the horror we felt as we watched students run in 
fear from a shooting rampage that took the lives of 13 innocent people.
  Those 13 people never should have died because those teenagers never 
should have had those guns. Some of the guns were purchased from 
unlicensed dealers at gun shows.
  Although the Federal Brady Law requires licensed firearms dealers to 
conduct background checks before selling guns, a loophole in Federal 
law allows unlicensed dealers--who make up 20 to 50 percent of all 
dealers at gun shows--to sell guns without conducting background 
checks.
  Because the Columbine killers' guns were bought from unlicensed 
dealers, they were sold without a single background check being done. A 
friend who bought them guns said she never would have done it if she 
had to go through a background check.
  In the wake of that terrible tragedy, the Senate responded. We passed 
my legislation to close the gun show loophole, with Vice President Al 
Gore casting the tiebreaking vote.
  Unfortunately, the gun lobby stripped my legislation in conference, 
and 9 years later, the gun show loophole is still open. Nine years 
after the horror of Columbine, easy access to guns is still the law of 
the land, and gun violence still plagues our schools, our streets, and 
our communities.
  Last April, we witnessed the worst school shooting tragedy in our 
Nation's history. Thirty-two students and professors were killed, and 
15 more were wounded at Virginia Tech.
  We know now that the Virginia Tech shooter never should have been 
permitted to buy the two weapons he used that day. He should have been 
on a prohibited list because of his history of treatment for serious 
mental illness. In response, we are working to make sure that States 
include these mental health records in the FBI's background check 
database.
  However, even if the Virginia Tech shooter had been stopped from 
buying a gun at a gun shop, he still could have walked down the street 
to a gun show to buy a gun from an unlicensed dealer. All the mental 
health records in the world will not stop mentally ill people or other 
prohibited purchasers from buying guns unless all gun dealers--
including unlicensed dealers at gun shows--have to consult those 
records before selling a gun.
  That is why the Virginia Tech Review Panel recommended closing the 
gun show loophole to prevent prohibited purchasers from buying guns. 
That is why the survivors of the Virginia Tech massacre and families of 
the victims are fighting to close the gun show loophole.
  Today, I ask my colleagues to finish the job we started almost 9 
years ago. We must close the loophole that allows convicted felons, 
fugitives and domestic abusers to buy guns without going through a 
background check.
  The Lautenberg-Reed bill would close the gun show loophole by 
requiring background checks for all gun sales at gun shows. 
Specifically, our bill would require background checks by licensed 
firearms dealers for all gun transactions at gun shows; define a gun 
show as an event where 50 or more guns are offered or exhibited for 
sale; require gun show promoters to register

[[Page S497]]

with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF, and 
ensure that sellers understand their legal obligations; require 
licensed gun dealers to keep records of guns sold at gun shows to make 
it easier to trace guns that are later used in crime.
  This bill is a common-sense public safety measure. It has been 
endorsed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
  Now, let me be very clear: Our bill would not hurt law-abiding gun 
owners. It would simply require a background check to stop unlicensed 
sellers from selling guns to people who are not allowed to own one. 
Approximately 92 percent of background checks are completed within 
minutes, and 95 percent are completed within 2 hours.
  Those few minutes are worth it. From the enactment of the Brady Act 
in 1993 through 2005, nearly 70 million background checks have been 
performed, denying guns to 1.36 million prohibited purchasers.
  I am proud to say that more than 150,000 of those guns have been 
denied to convicted domestic abusers as a result of a law I wrote in 
1996.
  We can only imagine how many lives have been saved by preventing 
felons, fugitives, and domestic abusers from getting those guns. Now we 
have the opportunity to save even more lives by requiring that every 
gun sold at the thousands of gun shows held across the U.S. each year 
goes through a background check.
  It has been almost 9 years since the Columbine tragedy. We should not 
wait another day to close the gun show loophole.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is a privilege to join my colleagues 
in support of the Gun Show Background Check Act to reduce gun violence. 
Closing this dangerous loophole in current Federal gun laws will make 
gun show transactions safer for all our people.
  Americans overwhelmingly favor responsible gun control laws. They 
want effective background checks for firearm purchases at gun shows or 
anywhere else. Yet, year after year, the ``gun show loophole'' allows 
firearms to be purchased with no questions asked, and legislation is 
urgently needed to close this flagrant loophole in our current gun 
laws.
  Under today's laws, licensed gun dealers must be approved, must 
register with the Federal Government, and must conduct background 
checks on gun buyers who come to their stores. But in most States, 
almost anyone can be an unlicensed private seller of guns. Timothy 
McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, was one such private seller at gun 
shows. These private sellers have no obligation to conduct criminal 
background checks on buyers or keep any records at all about the sale. 
It is no surprise that felons and other prohibited gun buyers go to gun 
shows to buy guns in order to evade background checks. That is 
unacceptable. Closing the gun show loophole and requiring background 
checks for purchasers at gun shows is vital for public safety.
  The Gun Show Background Check Act defines gun shows as any event at 
which 50 or more firearms are offered or exhibited for sale and 
requires gun show promoters to register with the Bureau of Alcohol, 
Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It requires the promoters to 
maintain a list of vendors at all gun shows, and these vendors must 
acknowledge receipt of information about their legal obligations. It 
also requires that all firearm sales at gun shows go through a Federal 
Firearms Licensee. Private vendors and nonlicensed persons will be 
required to complete the sale of weapons using such a licensee, who 
will be responsible for conducting a background check on the purchaser 
and maintaining a record of the transaction. Finally, the bill improves 
the tracing of firearms by requiring these licensees to submit 
information about firearms sold at gun shows to the ATF's National 
Tracing Center.
  Approximately 50 percent of all gun sales in the U.S. today are 
``private'' sales made by individuals at thousands of gun shows. No 
proof of identification and no criminal background check are required. 
Even after the horrific events of September 11, suspected terrorists 
and felons can easily purchase any quantity of firearms, including 
military style assault weapons, without an ID or background check at 
gun shows in 32 States. Federal law permits gun owners to sell rifles, 
shotguns, and even assault weapons to children, without their parent's 
knowledge or permission.
  It is not enough to leave this issue any longer to State action. As 
John Rosenthal, founder of the nonprofit organization, Stop Handgun 
Violence, has pointed out, Massachusetts has enacted some of the most 
effective laws to prevent gun violence in the country, but 
Massachusetts is surrounded by States, which have no such laws and 
allow individuals to buy and sell guns easily. According to ATF data 
for 2006, many of the gun crime weapons recovered in Massachusetts had 
been obtained in other States with little or no regulation of firearms 
sales.
  Critics claim that mandating background checks at gun shows will not 
reduce crime significantly and will be a step towards banning private 
firearms sales between individuals. Some even make the preposterous 
claim that there is no gun show loophole, and that gun control 
advocates are trying to address a non-existing problem. Evidence 
clearly proves, however, that gun shows are an important source of the 
guns used in crime in the U.S. During the late 1990s, cases involving 
gun shows and flea markets accounted for 30 percent of all trafficked 
guns in the U.S. That is no surprise, since there are over 4,000 gun 
shows in the U.S. every year, and no Federal laws to regulate them. 
Statistics also show that States such as Massachusetts, where strict 
gun control legislation has been enacted, have significantly lower 
firearm fatality rates than States with lax gun laws.
  In another appalling move, the Bush administration successfully 
pushed legislation requiring the FBI to destroy records of approved gun 
purchases within 24 hours of a completed background check. That action 
prevents law enforcement from identifying whether a person under 
investigation for another crime, including terrorism, has purchased a 
firearm. In addition, if federally licensed gun dealers fail to report 
stolen or missing guns, they face only misdemeanor charges, despite the 
fact that thousands of guns are stolen from gun stores every year. The 
rifle used by the DC sniper was ``lost'' by a gun store--the same store 
that ``lost'' 238 guns in 3 years.
  We can't ensure public safety unless we stop kowtowing to the gun 
lobby. We can't accept a system that allows criminals and terrorists to 
buy guns at gun shows without detection. The gun show loophole should 
have been closed long ago. I urge my colleagues to enact this vital 
legislation to do that. I commend Senator Lautenberg and Senator Reed 
for introducing this bill, and I look forward to its enactment into law 
as soon as possible. Too many lives are on the line for us to delay any 
longer.
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