[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 38 (Monday, September 23, 1996)]
[Page 1785]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Letter to Speaker Newt Gingrich on Legislation Prohibiting Possession of 
Firearms by Domestic Violence Offenders

September 17, 1996

Dear Mr. Speaker:

    I am pleased that you have now joined me in supporting legislation 
to prohibit domestic violence offenders from obtaining firearms. No one 
who has committed an act of domestic violence against a spouse or child 
should be able to possess a firearm.
    As you know, Senator Lautenberg and Representative Torricelli have 
introduced legislation that would achieve this objective. The Senate 
passed the Lautenberg bill for the second time last week by an 
overwhelming and bipartisan vote of 97-2. It is now time for the House 
to act on the Torricelli bill and join the Senate in supporting this 
bipartisan effort.
    There were 88,500 incidents of domestic violence where a firearm was 
present in 1994. I signed the Brady Law in 1993 and to date it has 
prevented over 60,000 felons, fugitives and others from buying handguns. 
My 1994 Crime Bill included the historic Violence Against Women Act, 
which made it a crime for stalkers and harassers under restraining 
orders to carry a gun. That provision is beginning to take hold--in 
Kentucky alone, over 300 stalkers and harassers were prohibited from 
buying firearms in one year. The legislation that you now support will 
build upon these important provisions.
    I welcome your support and determination to complete this job. 
Protecting innocent women and children from deadly domestic violence is 
too important to let anything stand in the way. Bringing this bill to a 
vote in the House is an important step. But we must see it through to 
the end. Send it to me for my signature without further delay before 
Congress adjourns so that keeping guns out of the hands of all domestic 
violence offenders becomes the law of the land.
    Sincerely,
                                                  Bill Clinton

Note: This letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
September 18.