[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 4440]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                        KIDS ARE GETTING KILLED

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, for the third time in 6 weeks, a gunman has 
killed a young girl in Detroit. The first time it was a 7-year-old, 
killed by a man who opened fire on a car full of children. The second 
time it was a 3-year-old, shot while she was watching television in her 
room. And just this past Wednesday, an 8-year-old was shot while 
sleeping at home. The Detroit Police Department has one man in custody, 
but no one has been formally charged. These are very tragic events. In 
addition to prosecuting the criminals who commit these horrific crimes, 
we can do more to prevent them, we should close the gun show loophole 
so that it is more difficult for criminals to gain access to guns.
  In 1994, 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 unlicensed private gun sellers 
to sell firearms at gun shows without conducting a background check.
  In April of last year, Senator Jack Reed introduced the Gun Show 
Background Check Act which would close this loophole in the law. The 
Reed bill, which is 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. I urge the 
Senate to debate and pass this common sense gun-safety legislation.

                          ____________________