[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11192]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           GUN CONTROL MYTHS

  (Mr. McHENRY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, the Washington Times reported last week 
that while firearms sales in the United States remained on the rise, 
gun-related crime and gun accidents are on the decline.
  Figures released by the Treasury Department show that retail sales of 
firearms and ammunition rose by almost 3 percent in 2005. All told, 4.7 
million new guns were sold during this past year. Yet government 
figures and independent statistics revealed that firearm crimes and 
accidental fatalities, including among youth, all trend downward.
  A recent assault on the Mall, ironically involving one of the Capitol 
Police chief's children who was one of the victims, underscores the 
importance of making guns available to law-abiding citizens in 
Washington, DC.
  Residents here deserve the same self-defense measures that we do in 
our individual States. The second amendment applies to all Americans, 
not just some. It does not take a constitutional scholar to figure that 
out.
  Mr. Speaker, anti-gun activists attacking our second amendment rights 
are perpetuating a myth of more guns equals more violence. It is not 
true.

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