[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 89]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                  TARGETED GUN DEALER ENFORCEMENT ACT

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the Brady law has been very successful. The 
federal law that requires background checks on deals conducted by 
federally licensed firearms dealers has prevented more than 470,000 
prohibited persons from purchasing firearms. Unfortunately, the Brady 
law is not the only law enforcement tool needed to prevent felons from 
purchasing firearms.
  Straw purchases are probably the best-known way around the Brady law. 
Straw purchases occur when a buyer with a clean record is hired to 
purchase a gun for someone who is prohibited by law from buying the gun 
or does not want to be traced. Often times, this is how gun trafficking 
is facilitated. Firearms are bought in the legal marketplace, and then 
transferred directly to the secondary market, where there are virtually 
no restrictions.
  A new report issued by Senator Schumer shows that most guns used in 
crimes are purchased in this secondary market. According to the report, 
which analyzed data compiled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and 
Firearms, in 13 percent of crimes, the crime gun could be traced to the 
original buyer and in 87 percent of the crimes, the gun had transferred 
hands.
  Many of the time, these crime guns can be traced back to a small 
percentage of high volume dealers, who are willing to sell a single 
person a large quantity of firearms. Guns bought in these large 
quantities are often characterized by a short ``time to crime,'' or a 
short period between the sale and time they are used in criminal acts. 
In another report issued by Senator Schumer, a small percentage of 
licensed dealers are responsible for a disproportionate number of crime 
guns. Specifically, in 1998, 137 dealers, or 1.1 percent of all gun 
dealers, were responsible for selling 13,000 crime guns.
  Mr. President, I am the cosponsor of a bill that would give ATF the 
authority it needs to put an end to these practices. The Targeted Gun 
Dealer Enforcement Act of 1999 focuses in on a specific group of 
businesses, who have an abysmal record of having their products used 
for illegal activities. It would outlaw all straw purchasing and give 
ATF additional law enforcement tools to suspend the licenses of high-
volume crime gun dealers. I urge my colleagues to support this bill and 
help put an end to these unscrupulous practices, which keep violent 
persons armed.

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