[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11561]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         GUN SAFETY LEGISLATION

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, at home this last week, and in 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this weekend, I heard from people from all across 
the country who want the Federal Government to be a better partner in 
promoting livable communities so that our families can be safe, 
economically secure and healthy. Reducing the threat of gun violence is 
at the core of what will make communities more livable, yet the 
apologists for gun violence have been hard at work during our recess 
seeking to derail the modest steps that would make our children safer 
from guns. People of conscience should push back.
  During my 3 years in Congress, there have been nine multiple shooting 
deaths on our school campuses involving children shooting other 
children and their teachers. The epidemic of gun violence amongst our 
youth has tragic consequences in terms of loss of life, physical safety 
and the health of our communities. Yet for all the media attention 
given to Jonesboro, Springfield and the Littleton massacres, tragedies 
like this occur daily, with over 12 children being killed in a typical 
24-hour period. The only difference is that unlike Littleton or 
Springfield, the pain is scattered from town to town in isolated 
bursts. Even though these tragedies occur without massive media 
attention, they nonetheless produce pain every bit as real and lasting 
in communities across the country.
  This Sunday, in Milwaukee, the papers were full of a tragic example 
of a young man shooting his best friend. While I was reading that on 
the plane, a 3-year-old in Baltimore shot himself in the head and he 
lies in the hospital now, critically wounded.
  These numbers are staggering and uniquely American. Each year more 
than 5,000 children are killed by firearms. By contrast, only 15 people 
in the entire Nation of Japan were murdered with handguns last year. At 
the same time, the apologists for gun violence contend that there are 
no useful government initiatives to reduce this violence other than 
simply stricter enforcement of the laws, more prison time for criminals 
and wider use of firearms. I strongly disagree.
  We in the House of Representatives should vote and pass the three gun 
safety elements in the Senate legislation, which would require safety 
locks on all new handguns, background checks for sales at gun shows and 
a ban on the sale of ammunition magazines of more than 10 rounds. These 
are minor steps, but meaningful if they serve as a starting point for a 
more deliberate and comprehensive approach to ending gun violence.
  An important bill which I was pleased to cosponsor with the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) includes several measures 
designed to keep guns out of kids' hands. H.R. 1342 is being supported 
by a growing number of people of conscience on both sides of the aisle. 
It should be the vehicle that deals comprehensively with these 
concerns.
  Another important approach is legislation that I just introduced 
today that takes a page from our successful efforts at reducing death 
and injury on our highways. Thirty years ago Congress started simple, 
common-sense legislation that has cut the death rate on our highways in 
half. We can do the same with handguns.
  My legislation would, for instance, assure that the Consumer Product 
Safety Commission devotes as much time to regulating real guns as it 
does to toy guns. It would require new guns to have an indicator to 
show it is loaded. It would extend the Brady law to deny people with a 
history of violent and reckless behavior the ability to purchase and 
own firearms, and it would require the Federal Government to establish 
a date in the near future when all the guns that we purchase for our 
Federal employees are personalized so that those guns cannot be used 
against them or stolen.
  The Speaker of the House has argued against extraneous riders dealing 
with gun safety laws. I find this ironic when we just passed an 
absolute abomination of a spending bill supposedly to finance our 
troops in Kosovo and other emergencies, but included everything from 
defining reindeer as livestock to relaxing environmental regulations on 
mining. Why is it that when it comes to the special interests we are 
willing to make exceptions, but not when it comes to our children? They 
should be at least as important as well-connected lobbyists.
  It is time to pass comprehensive legislation to protect our children, 
our families and our communities from senseless gun violence, and we 
ought to do it now.




                          ____________________