[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2520]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          FIREARM TRACING DATA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, for the last several weeks 
you have heard me talk about gun violence in this country, and I happen 
to think there are solutions where we can reduce gun violence.
  I would like to talk about firearm tracing data. Firearm tracing data 
gives law enforcement agencies the ability to retrieve useful data on 
guns used in crimes. Tracing data will let our police departments 
locate the gun dealers who sell guns used in crimes. Without this 
tracing data, local law enforcement will not be able to pursue civil 
action on suppliers that have been implicated in crimes without asking 
the ATF's permission first.
  It is important that we use tracing data to single out the bad gun 
owners. One percent of gun owners sell 50 percent of the guns used in 
crime in this country. That is a staggering number. We can crack down 
on that 1 percent. We can make our streets and cities safer. The 
collection of tracing data does not prevent anyone from purchasing a 
gun. It simply gives law enforcement the tools that they need to solve 
crimes.
  As you can see by this chart, 91 percent of Americans believe that 
tracing data should be used in some form to help crimes, 91 percent. 
Why aren't we doing a better job on helping our police officers do 
their job?
  Last week, New York Mayor Bloomberg teamed up with Boston Mayor 
Menino on this very issue. Together they have formed a bipartisan 
coalition of more than 120 mayors from across the country. The group 
has many mayors from the urban as well as the rural areas. These mayors 
understand the need for tracing data. They understand that Congress has 
done little to help gun violence and stop gun violence in this country.
  They are tired of sitting back as their cities lose more and more 
citizens to gun violence. By the way, they are also tired of seeing the 
health care costs on those victims that do survive. This is something 
that we should be dealing with. It is a health care crisis in this 
country.
  Last week, they held their annual conference here in Washington. They 
spoke with Members from both sides of the aisle. This is not a Democrat 
or a Republican issue. It is not a pro-gun or anti-gun issue. It is a 
pro-law enforcement issue with common sense, and it is supported by an 
overwhelming majority of Americans.
  We must do everything in our power to keep guns out of the hands of 
those that don't deserve to have a gun. That is why I introduced the 
NICS Improvement Act. This bill will simply strengthen the States. 
Right now when the NICS system doesn't have the information in it, how 
can it basically report out who should not be able to buy a gun?
  My NICS bill will be giving the States the money to bring their 
computers up to speed, so that way when someone is adjudicated in 
court, whether it is on a felony or on domestic violence, someone who 
should not be able to get a gun shouldn't be able to get approved 
through the approved NICS system. This is common sense.
  Again, this is a pro-safety issue. It doesn't affect anyone who wants 
to buy a gun, but it makes this country safer from gun violence.
  I know it is a very political issue. Everyone is always saying that 
you are trying to take away my gun. I have never done that. What I am 
trying to do is save lives; and I am trying to save, certainly, people 
from being harmed. Our mayors across this great country understand 
that.
  We can do a better job. Congress needs to start listening to the 
American people. These statistics show that gun owners, by the way, 
approve overwhelmingly of being able to trace these guns. We should be 
able to do it. We can do a better job. Americans should have a safer 
country.

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