[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17036]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              GUN VIOLENCE

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the plague of gun violence is one that 
affects our society on many levels. Across the country people are 
calling out for a change in our Nation's gun policies. A recent 
article, The Battle Over Illegal Guns, in the June issue of Ladies' 
Home Journal Magazine, is a case in point. This article detailed the 
tragic death of Wake County, NC sheriff's department investigator Mark 
Tucker, and provided yet another example of a pervasive problem in our 
country that has not yet been addressed.
  On February 12, 2004, Mark Tucker returned home from work to eat 
lunch. As he left his house to return to work, he noticed an unfamiliar 
car with an open trunk parked in a field near his home. He drove over 
to investigate it. As he stepped out of his unmarked patrol car, an 18-
year-old young man pulled a gun out of the trunk of the unfamiliar car. 
The teenager, who was on probation for breaking into cars, stated he 
had only intended to engage in a little target practice that day. 
However, because he was on probation, he was not legally allowed to 
possess a firearm. When he saw Mark's badge he panicked, killing Mark 
with a single shot.
  Because the teenager had a felony record, he was not legally 
permitted to purchase a gun himself. In order to circumvent this, he 
simply had a friend fill out the required Federal paperwork for him at 
the gun dealer. This type of transaction, when one customer stands in 
for another who is not legally able to purchase a weapon, is known as a 
straw purchase. According to a 2000 report by the Bureau of Alcohol, 
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF, straw purchases are the most 
common source of crime guns. Approximately half of the 1,530 
trafficking investigations examined in the report involved stand-in 
buyers.
  Though Federal law enforcement officials have increasingly teamed up 
with local officials over the past few years to increase prosecution of 
firearm-related crimes, not enough attention is being focused on the 
source of the problem. According to the ATF, nearly 60 percent of the 
guns used in crimes can be traced to just over 1 percent of this 
Nation's licensed gun dealers. Five out of six of these guns are 
obtained illegally.
  This article not only detailed the tragic events which occurred in 
Wake County, it illustrated a problem that plagues our society. 
Negligent dealers and straw purchasers indirectly threaten the security 
of our communities by facilitating the transfer of dangerous firearms 
to potential criminals who may use them in violent crimes. We must do 
more to help our Federal, State and local law enforcement officials 
keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them. Simply 
put, Congress needs to take up and pass sensible gun legislation.

                          ____________________