[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 827-828]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               MORE EVIDENCE THAT BACKGROUND CHECKS WORK

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, in 1994, the Congress passed the Brady Law, 
which requires Federal Firearm Licensees to perform criminal background 
checks on gun buyers. However, a loophole in this law allows unlicenced 
private gun sellers to sell firearms at gun shows without conducting a 
background check.
  In April of last year, Senator Reed introduced the Gun Show 
Background Check Act which would close this loophole in the law. The 
Reed bill, which is

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supported by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, extends 
the Brady Bill background check requirement to all sellers of firearms 
at gun shows. I cosponsored that bill because I believe it is critical 
that we do all we can to prevent guns from getting into the hands of 
criminals and terrorists. A recent report from Americans for Gun Safety 
demonstrates how successful the Brady law has been in this regard and 
why it is important to extend its provisions to firearms sales at gun 
shows.
  According to Bureau of Justice Statistics numbers cited in the AGS 
report, in 2000 alone, Brady bill background checks blocked more than 
153,000 felons and other illegal firearms purchasers from buying a gun. 
In addition, these checks were typically conducted without placing 
unreasonable burdens on gun buyers. According to the study, 72 percent 
of background checks were completed within minutes and 95 percent were 
completed within two hours. The study provides yet further evidence in 
support of common sense legislation to close the gun show loophole.

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