[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11276]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      THE STOP GUN TRAFFICKING AND STRENGTHEN LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 15, 2011

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, today, I am pleased to introduce important 
legislation, the Stop Gun Trafficking and Strengthen Law Enforcement 
Act, with Representatives Cummings, McCarthy, Conyers, Tierney, 
Connolly, Chu, Norton, Rangel, Moran, Lynch, Speier, Filner, and 
Ackerman, which will put in statute a gun trafficking prohibition, 
empowering law enforcement with the tools to stem the tide of illegal 
weapons into the hands of Mexican drug cartels and other criminals.
  The Mexican drug cartel wars are raging and have claimed the lives of 
at least 40,000 people since 2007. They are fueled, in part, by illegal 
weapons procured in the United States and smuggled into Mexico. 
According to Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Mexico has seized 
approximately 100,000 guns in the last four years, and 84% of those 
guns came from the United States. According to ATF, 70% of firearms 
recovered in Mexico in 2009 and 2010 and traced to determine their 
source were either manufactured in the U.S. or first imported into the 
U.S. before being trafficked to Mexico.
  In hearings and interviews before the House Oversight and Government 
Reform Committee, law enforcement agents have said they are hamstrung 
in their attempts to stop illegal gun trafficking by the lack of a 
federal gun trafficking bill. Law enforcement agents identified three 
areas of current law that, if improved, would allow them to more 
effectively counter firearms trafficking--a reporting requirement for 
multiple long-guns purchases, stiffer penalties for straw purchasers, 
and a specific firearms trafficking prohibition in the criminal code.
  Just this week, the Obama Administration announced that they have 
approved the ATF's request to use their authority to request reports of 
multiple long-gun purchases, and earlier this year in April, the United 
States Sentencing Commission announced proposed amendments to the 
sentencing guidelines that will essentially cause most straw purchasers 
to be ineligible for probation, and once in effect, Congress can 
reevaluate the impact of these changes and if additional changes are 
needed.
  With administrative action on two of the three proposals, our 
legislation accomplishes the third--a firearms trafficking prohibition 
in statute, with stiff penalties for traffickers and so-called 
trafficking ``kingpins.'' Under current law, prosecutors are forced to 
charge straw purchasers and traffickers with mere paperwork violations. 
This bill empowers law enforcement by criminalizing firearms 
trafficking, offering a sensible solution to ensure that weapons do not 
end up in the hands of criminals and drug cartels.
  Given the ongoing violence and the glaring loopholes in U.S. gun 
trafficking laws, it's time Congress gets serious about enacting 
narrowly tailored, sensible laws to combat illegal trafficking.

                          ____________________