[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 10068]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       BACKGROUND CHECKS IN 1999

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, last weekend, a new report was released by 
the Justice Department about the successes of the Brady Law. The Brady 
Law requires that a prospective gun purchaser undergo a criminal 
background check before obtaining any firearm from a federal firearms 
licensee. The law is intended to prevent felons, fugitives, domestic 
abusers, and other prohibited persons from gaining access to guns. The 
new information brought the number of purchase rejections up to more 
than half a million since enactment of the Brady Law in 1994.
  According to the report, the number one reason for rejection was 
because the applicant either had a felony conviction or was under 
felony indictment. Of the approximately 200,000 purchase rejections in 
1999, almost three-quarters, or 150,000 were denied for this reason. 
The second most common cause for rejection was a domestic violence 
misdemeanor conviction or restraining order, accounting for 
approximately 13% of rejections or 27,000 applications. Other 
applicants were denied the ability to purchase guns because of fugitive 
status, mental illness or disability, drug addiction, or state or local 
prohibition. In total, in 1999 alone, the Brady Law kept more than 
200,000 guns off the streets and out of the hands of prohibited 
purchasers.
  The Brady Act has been effective but its success has been undermined 
by a loophole in the law that allows criminals to purchase guns from 
non-licensed sellers. That loophole allows felons, fugitives or other 
prohibited persons to purchase guns at gun shows without undergoing 
background checks. It is a loophole often exploited by those with 
objectionable backgrounds, some of whose applications have already been 
rejected by federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies.
  Congress made significant strides to reduce the level of gun violence 
by enacting the Brady Act, but now it's time to finish the job. 
Congress must close the gunshow loophole, otherwise the successes of 
Brady are weakened. As a reporter in my home state of Michigan said 
yesterday, ``the same statistics that demonstrate the usefulness of the 
background checks that have been in place since passage of the Brady 
bill cry out for closure of the loopholes that allow criminals turned 
away by licensed dealers to purchase guns with impunity elsewhere.''
  I urge Congress to close the gun show loophole and stop undermining 
law enforcement's ability to keep guns off the streets and out of the 
hands of dangerous criminals.

                          ____________________