[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4129]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    REINTRODUCTION OF CHILD HANDGUN INJURY PREVENTION ACT, H.R. 1014

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Indiana (Ms. Carson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, we continue to observe school 
shootings, and I am concerned that we have yet to pass strong gun 
safety legislation.
  Despite recent polls by CBS and the New York Times which suggest that 
70 percent of American people favor stricter handgun laws, Congress 
continues to ignore the public's concerns.
  January 10, in Ventura County, California, a 17-year-old student held 
a classmate at gunpoint during the school's lunch break. The gunman was 
fatally wounded by police.
  January 12, 2001, in my district, Indianapolis, Indiana, a 4-year-old 
boy shot himself with a pistol he found in his mother's pocketbook.
  February 7, 2001 in Dallas, Texas, a 14-year-old boy fired a gun in 
the direction of classmates while on school grounds.
  March 6, in Santee, California, a 15-year-old boy took a .22-caliber 
long-barrel revolver from his father's locked collection of weapons and 
killed two schoolmates, while injuring 13 others.
  March 7, this year, Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, a 14-year-old girl 
shot a female classmate in the shoulder in the cafeteria of a parochial 
school.
  March 7, Prince Georges County, Maryland, a 14-year-old boy shot and 
wounded another teenager outside Largo Senior High School.
  From 1987 to 1996, nearly 2,200 American children, 14 years of age 
and younger, died from unintentional shootings. What are we waiting 
for? We must not allow these tragedies to become an everyday part of 
American life. We must not be apathetic.
  While firearm fatalities cost America more money than any of the 
other four leading causes of death, guns are the only consumer product 
in America, except tobacco, which are exempt from health care and 
safety regulations. Sadly, guns continue to be exempt from Federal 
oversight, and consumer protection laws continue to be tougher on toy 
guns than on real guns.
  The history of consumer product regulation teaches us that 
significant numbers of death and illnesses can be preserved when health 
and safety regulations exist. The Poison Prevention Packaging Act 
requires child-resistant packaging. The Consumer Federation of America 
estimates that more than 700 children have avoided accidental 
poisonings. Also, the introduction of sleep wear and toy standards have 
saved children's lives.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in the bill that I introduced last 
week, the Child Handgun Injury Prevention Act, H.R. 1014. It requires 
manufacturers' safety devices.
  We introduced it in another bill that requires training to entitle 
you to have licenses. H.R. 1014 requires the Secretary of the Treasury 
to mandate all newly manufactured handguns come equipped with child 
safety devices, and it would establish a Federal standard for the 
devices.
  We can do nothing less than to ensure the future safety of our 
children and prevent them from unintentional handgun injury. We need to 
require safety devices that meet the rigid tests by the Department of 
the Treasury.
  I encourage each Member of the House of Representatives to join me in 
this effort.

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