[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 110 (Monday, July 29, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S6007]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             WEAPONS SALES

  Mr. LEVIN Mr. President, we recently marked 1 year since the tragic 
shooting in Aurora, CO. One year since our nation witnessed innocent 
men, women, and children streaming out of a movie theater, bloodied and 
in shock. One year since 12 people were murdered and 58 injured at the 
hands of an armed and mentally deranged individual who was able to 
channel his illness in the most dangerous way: through the barrel of an 
AR-15 military-style assault weapon.
  Such weapons, according to the Congressional Research Service, were 
designed in the aftermath of the Second World War to give soldiers a 
weapon suited for the modern battlefield. They are designed to kill as 
many people as possible, as quickly as possible. And in Aurora, the AR-
15 did just that.
  Since that night, all around our country, the gun violence has 
continued. But still, we in Congress have done nothing to stem these 
gun tragedies. Today, just like this day 1 year ago, a convicted felon, 
a domestic abuser, or a dangerously mentally ill individual can go to a 
private seller and legally purchase a deadly military-style weapon just 
as easily as they can purchase a gallon of milk, no background check 
required.
  Take, for example, a recent undercover investigation conducted by a 
team of National Geographic journalists who wanted to see just how easy 
it is for criminals to obtain guns. What the team found was deeply 
unnerving. Speaking to investigative journalist Mariana van Zeller, 
private investigator and former police officer Jesse Torrez put it 
bluntly: ``We should be able to get you involved in a weapons 
transaction within 30 minutes . . . and that's travel time, too.''
  He was right. The investigators decided to attempt to purchase an AK-
47, a military-style assault weapon. On the weapon-selling website 
[www.armslist
.com], a posting selling a similar firearm for $830 proudly describes 
it, among other things, as ``the standard issue firearm in the Yugoslav 
People's Army in 1970.'' But compared to the investigation's findings, 
that weapon would have been overpriced. In just a few minutes, the 
National Geographic investigators found an online posting selling an 
AK-47 for $750 in cash. They agreed to meet the seller in a fast food 
parking lot. Under Federal law, background checks are not required for 
``private'' gun sales, so the transaction was completed quickly and 
legally. The vendor even offered to add ``several'' AR-15 assault 
rifles to the sale as a sort of impulse buy, like candy in a 
convenience store.
  Upping the ante, the investigators then searched for a .50-caliber 
sniper rifle, a weapon the team described as ``so powerful that the 
U.S. military uses it to penetrate concrete and steel.'' Again, within 
minutes, they found an internet seller offering a .50-caliber rifle 
from a nearby garage. Without any form of background check, the 
National Geographic team purchased the weapon, along with 11 boxes of 
ammunition containing 12 rounds apiece. In the chilling words of the 
private seller, ``You have a lot of firepower to start your own war.''
  Our society should not be a war zone. The purchasers in this case 
were undercover investigators, but next time, they might not be. They 
could be felons, domestic abusers, or a mentally deranged individual 
planning to use the weapon for harm.
  We owe it to the survivors and the victims of Aurora to keep weapons 
designed for war off our streets. We owe it to the American people to 
listen to the 90 percent of them who support universal background 
checks on all gun sales. We owe it to our families, our neighbors, and 
our children to stop deadly weapons from getting into the wrong hands. 
We should take up and pass legislation such as the Assault Weapons Ban 
of 2013, which would stop the flood of military-style weapons into our 
neighborhoods. We should extend background checks to all gun sales by 
passing the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013. We should, in 
short, turn common sense into law. But that will only happen if 
Congress acts.

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