    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [June 17, 1999]
    [Pages 957-959]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 957]]

    Remarks on Gun Control Legislation and an Exchange With Reporters in
    Paris
    June 17, 1999

        The President. I would just like to make a brief statement. Sometime
    today the United States Congress will be called upon to vote on whether
    to close the gun show loophole. It seems to me there's a very simple,
    direct question. If we close the loophole and do background checks in a
    comprehensive fashion at the gun shows, will we succeed, as we have with
    the Brady bill, in keeping more guns out of the hands of criminals and
    others who shouldn't have them--at very little inconvenience to
    legitimate gun owners?
        The answer to that question is yes. Everyone knows the answer to
    that question is yes. Therefore, I hope that this vote will be cast by
    Congress in the spirit that has gripped the country after the tragedy at
    Littleton, thinking about those children and other children that we can
    still save.
        Once again, I think that the gun lobby is just wrong about this. And
    we've seen several gun manufacturers come forward and say that the gun
    show loophole ought to be closed. We've seen several individual
    Republicans, and members of the NRA, come forward and say this. They're
    just wrong here. And I hope and pray that Congress will do the right
    thing.
        Q. Mr. President, have you talked to Mr. Dingell, and why is he
    doing this to the Democrats?
        The President. I don't think he thinks
    he's doing this to the Democrats. I believe that this is something on
    which we have a profound disagreement on. I believe that John Dingell
    believes he's doing the right thing. But I know that most Members of
    Congress in both parties agree that the gun show loophole, if closed,
    would keep more guns out of the hands of criminals. That's what they
    think. And of course, we have about 80 percent of the Democrats in favor
    of this, maybe more, maybe 90 percent--I don't know, but way the vast
    majority. And most of the Republicans are voting the other way, the vast
    majority. They feel a certain amount of gratitude to the NRA for putting
    them in the majority in the House in the first place, by frightening
    people over the Brady bill and the assault weapons ban. And I understand
    that.
        But now we've got 5 years of experience with the Brady bill and the
    assault weapons ban. All lawful gun owners can still go hunting, can
    still engage in sport shooting, but we kept 400,000 guns out of the
    wrong hands with the Brady bill. And now they know that a lot of people
    with criminal backgrounds are trying to get guns at gun shows and flea
    markets and things of that kind. It is time to close the loophole. It's
    a simple, simple, straightforward question on the merits. And if
    everyone voted on the merits it would carry by 80 percent. And I think
    we all know that.

    NATO-Russia Negotiations on Kosovo

        Q. Mr. President, can you report any progress at all in the talks
    with the Russians and resolving the situation of their role in Kosovo?
        The President. I just got an update. They're still talking. We
    haven't resolved all the issues, but they have made pretty good progress
    today. I'm pleased, and I would urge them to keep working, and I think
    we'll bring this to a successful conclusion in the next little while--
    the next day or so I think we'll get it worked out. There has been
    progress today. I'm pleased with that.
        Q. Does that progress relate to control of the airport?
        The President. I think that until we have it all worked out--I don't
    want to get into what's been done and what hasn't. But I have--I can
    tell you that there has been substantive progress on very important
    issues. We've still got, I think, maybe just one issue, maybe two to
    resolve. But we're making progress. Everybody is working in good faith,
    and I expect it to be done.
        Q. When do you think it will get worked out?
        The President. Soon. They know we don't have a lot of time, and they
    know that we need to be--all of us need to be putting all of our
    energies on rapid, comprehensive deployment so that we can provide
    security to everyone and begin to work on building the institutions of
    civil government in Kosovo that will treat all the citizens of Kosovo in
    a fair and equitable

    [[Page 958]]

    way. And the quicker we get to work on that, the better.
        Now, we're doing that now. We've got, as I said, we've got--I told
    you today, earlier, we've gotten 15,000 of our troops in there; we're
    deploying as rapidly as we can. We've been working like crazy on this
    mine problem; we don't want to lose any more of the refugees coming
    home, to landmines. They desperately want to come home. They love their
    country. They want to be there. And so that's what I want us to focus
    on. That's what I want all of us to focus on.
        We had a very, very good partnership with the Russians in Bosnia,
    and I think once these agreements are made, people on all sides will
    keep all the commitments, and we'll have a good partnership here.

    Gun Control Legislation

        Q. Mr. President, you said several times today that the gun vote is
    difficult for many Members. You've been talking to Members, presumably
    to Democrats it's most hard for. Why is it so hard for them? What are
    they telling you?
        The President. Well, I think that a lot of them who represent rural
    districts, where there are a lot of gun owners, know that in 1994 the
    NRA beat somewhere between 12 and 20 of our Members. I mean, let's just
    put it--and they did it by scaring legitimate gun owners into thinking
    the Brady bill and the assault weapons ban were going to do terrible
    things to them and would do no good in fighting crime.
        But 5 years later, I'd like to point out, number one, it didn't do
    terrible things to legitimate gun owners. Number two, it kept 400,000
    guns out of the wrong hands. And number three, the country has moved on
    this; rural people have moved on this. And Littleton galvanized the
    country. This is crazy for the United States to be the only advanced
    country in the world that doesn't take comprehensive, sensible, thorough
    steps to keep handguns out of the hands of criminals. It's just--it
    doesn't make any sense.
        So I think that--my belief is that if a Member in a difficult
    district is willing to cast this vote and then aggressively defend it,
    there will be no losses. In fact, they will be rewarded for doing this,
    even in the difficult districts, in 2000. But I have told them all--you
    know, I've had very honest, non-pressure-oriented conversations. This is
    something I care deeply about. I come from a State where this is a big
    issue. I was profoundly proud that every Southern Democrat voted to
    close the gun show loophole in the United States Senate. And that means
    not only that they know it's the right thing to do; it means that
    they're confident they can go home to our part of the country and defend
    it. And I believe that.
        And I don't believe--again, I don't believe this is a big partisan
    issue anywhere but Washington. I think that's at least like the
    Patients' Bill of Rights. I think--you know, I had a friend of mine from
    the Intermountain West in Washington last week, whose brother owns an
    arsenal of weapons, literally, including semi-automatic weapons. He's a
    big collector of guns. And his brother, he sent me a message, he said,
    ``You know, this ought to be passed. I keep my guns locked. I'm trained
    to use them. I'm careful about them. I don't want anybody to have any of
    this stuff they shouldn't have. And this is wrong.''
        So I think that serious--I'm amazed by how many people have called
    into the White House on our comment line and identified themselves as
    NRA members, identified themselves as Republicans, who disagree with me
    on my things, encouraging us to go forward on this. The country has
    moved on this. And everybody knows that the only way anyone can get beat
    on this is if the facts are misrepresented to the voters. Now, there
    were some voters that were in a--they weren't in a most positive frame
    of mind in '94, anyway. But the public is in a positive frame of mind
    now. They know our economy is working. They know our crime rate is down.
    They know our welfare rolls are down. They know our social problems are
    diminishing. And they are profoundly moved by what happened at
    Littleton. They don't want these children to have died for nothing.
        And this should not be a partisan issue. There are some people, like
    Mr. Dingell, who honestly disagree. They ought to have a chance to vote
    their convictions. But you know and I know and everybody that covers the
    Congress knows that the overwhelming majority of the Congress believes
    that if we close the gun show loophole, that we'll keep more guns out of
    the hands of criminals; we'll save more lives; and we won't
    inconvenience legitimate gun owners. Everybody knows that's the truth on
    the merits. So I just pray that they'll go in there and vote on the
    merits. Then if they'll defend their votes in the

    [[Page 959]]

    election, none of them, Republicans or Democrats, will be defeated.
        Thank you.

    Note: The exchange began at 6:03 p.m. at the U.S. Ambassador's
    residence. In his remarks, the President referred to Representative John
    D. Dingell. A tape was not available for verification of the content of
    this exchange.