[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 9, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           INTRODUCTION OF THE GUN TRAFFICKING PREVENTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 9, 2015

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, today I am proud 
that members of Congress from both sides of the aisle came together to 
deal with the gun trafficking epidemic that has spread across our 
country and across our borders.
   Our bill, the Gun Trafficking Prevention Act, will create a 
dedicated federal statute to combat gun trafficking, and impose stiffer 
penalties for ``straw purchasers'' who buy guns for convicted felons 
and others who are prohibited from purchasing weapons. The bill also 
includes important enhancements for organizers of trafficking networks 
that funnel illegal guns into cities across the country.
   These stronger penalties will enable law enforcement and prosecutors 
to bust these trafficking rings and make our communities safer from the 
threat of gun violence.
   According to the ATF, more than 100,000 guns were recovered from 
crime scenes in Mexico between 2009 and 2014, and over 70 percent of 
those originated in the U.S. It's clear that gun trafficking across the 
border to Mexico is a major national security threat, but our current 
laws are so weak that it's not worth it to prosecute gun traffickers.
   In testimony to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee in 
2012, ATF Special Agent Peter Forcelli called the current laws against 
gun trafficking ``absolutely toothless.'' And the consequences have 
been dire:
   On Christmas Eve, 2012, a convicted felon named William Spengler, 
who served 17 years in prison for killing his 92-year-old grandmother 
with a hammer, sat down in his home in Webster, N.Y., and wrote a note 
vowing to torch his neighborhood.
   He promised to ``do what I like doing best, killing people.'' After 
setting fire to his own house and several others, Spengler ambushed the 
first responders, killing two firefighters by spraying them with 
bullets from a 12-gauge shotgun and a Bushmaster rifle.
   How did Mr. Spengler--a convicted felon--get his guns? He used his 
neighbor as a straw purchaser.
   And this May, authorities in New York charged 10 people in a gun 
trafficking ring that had channeled 90 guns from as far away as Maine 
onto our streets in just the previous six months.
   Thank you to Representatives Cummings, Meehan, Fitzpatrick, Kelly, 
King, Duckworth, and Donovan for their steadfast commitment to end gun 
trafficking, and their support of this critical legislation.

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