[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12437]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         GUN SAFETY LEGISLATION

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, 2 weeks ago the other body passed a 
modest gun safety package to keep guns out of the hands of kids and of 
criminals. They did the right thing. Now it is our turn to do the right 
thing.
  But instead of doing the right thing, the Republican leadership in 
this House is playing games with gun safety. We now have a gun safety 
bill that has been written by the National Rifle Association. Instead 
of closing the gun show loophole to allow criminal background checks at 
gun shows, the NRA opens that loophole wider.
  Background checks work. I would refer my colleagues to a study 
released in this morning's USA Today that says, ``The instant 
background check might be the most effective piece of gun legislation 
ever.''
  The NRA says that we do not need new gun safety to protect kids and 
that the Justice Department has failed to do its job. Wrong again. This 
new study shows that gun laws are enforced more vigorously today than 5 
years ago, prosecutions are up, and crime is down.
  Gun legislation we passed in 1994 is working. We did the right thing 
then. Let us do the right thing now for our children and for families 
in this country.

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