[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 15 (Monday, April 13, 1998)]
[Pages 582-583]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the Assault Weapons Ban

April 6, 1998

    Thank you very much, Secretary Rubin. Thank you for your efforts. 
Madam Attorney General, thank you. Mr. Vice President, thank you. And to 
the members of the law enforcement community and Secretary Kelly, Mr. 
Magaw, Attorney General Miller, Congressman Engel, to representatives of 
Handgun Control and the victims of violent crime, and to all of you who 
have come here today, I thank you very much.
    As the Vice President and the Attorney General and the Secretary of 
Treasury have said, 5 years ago we made a commitment as an 
administration to recover our Nation's streets from crime and violence, 
to provide security for our families and our children. It required a new 
determination by communities and by Government. It took a new philosophy 
of law enforcement, based not on tough talk, which was always in ample 
supply, but on tough action and smart action, a philosophy based simply 
on what works, community policing, strong antigang efforts, targeted 
deterrence, smarter, tougher penalties, a comprehensive strategy that 
includes all these elements and puts community policing at its core.
    We're well on our way to putting 100,000 new police officers on the 
street, ahead of schedule. And as the Vice President just told us, crime 
rates are dropping all across America to a 25-year low. Violent crime is 
down; property crime is down; and murder is down dramatically. From the 
crime bill to the Brady bill, from the assault weapons ban to the 
Violence Against Women Act, our strategy is showing results. And 
Americans should take both pride and comfort in this progress.
    But statistics tell only part of the story. The real measure of our 
progress is whether responsibility and respect for the law are on the 
rise. The real test of our resolve is whether parents can unlock their 
front doors with confidence and let their children play in the front 
yard without fear. And the fact remains that there are still far too 
many children in harm's way, too many families behind locked doors, too 
many guns in the hands of too many criminals.
    No statistics can measure the pain or the brave resilience of the 
families shattered by gun violence. Some of them are here with us today, 
and I would like to acknowledge them, people like Dan Gross, Tawanna 
Matthews, Brian Miller, Byrl Phillips-Taylor. Byrl's 17-year-old son was 
killed with an AK-47. Tragedies like theirs are a brutal reminder of the 
task still before us. They are a challenge and a call to action that we 
as a nation cannot ignore, and I thank these people for being willing to 
continue the fight through their pain. Thank you very much, all of you. 
[Applause] Thank you.
    If we are going to move forward in building a safer, stronger 
America, all of us, police and parents, communities and public 
officials, must work together. We must remain vigilant. Last November, I 
asked the Treasury Department to conduct the thorough review Secretary 
Rubin has just presented. That is why our administration has concluded 
that the import of assault weapons that use large-capacity military 
magazines should be banned. As everyone knows, you don't need an Uzi to 
go deer hunting. You don't need an AK-47 to go skeet shooting. These are 
military weapons, weapons of war. They were never meant for a day in the 
country, and they are certainly not meant for a night on the streets. 
Today we are working to make sure they stay off our streets.
    Two successive administrations have acted on this principle. In 1989 
President Bush banned the import of 43 semi-automatic assault rifles. In 
1994 this administration banned the domestic manufacture of certain 
assault weapons. And in Congress, Senator Dianne Feinstein and the late 
Congressman Walter Capps led the fight against foreign gun manufacturers 
who evade the law. As long as those manufacturers can make minor

[[Page 583]]

cosmetic modifications to weapons of war, our work is not done. And we 
must act swiftly and strongly.
    That is what Secretary Rubin's announcement amounts to today. We are 
doing our best to say, you can read the fine print in our law and our 
regulations all you want, and you can keep making your minor changes, 
but we're going to do our best to keep our people alive and stop you 
from making a dollar in the wrong way.
    It is our sworn duty to uphold the law, but it is also our moral 
obligation--our obligation to the children and families of law-abiding 
citizens, an obligation to stop the terrible scourge of gun violence. As 
parents, we teach our children every day to distinguish right from 
wrong. As a nation, we must also remember where to draw the line.
    Today we draw it clearly and indelibly. If we do this, if we follow 
the recommendations set forth in this report, we chart the right course 
for America, toward a future more free of fear and a new century 
brimming with confidence and great promise.
    Again, to all of you who played any role in this important day, I 
thank you on behalf of the people and the children and the future of the 
United States. Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10:55 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Raymond W. Kelly, Under Secretary 
of the Treasury for Enforcement; John W. Magaw, Director, Bureau of 
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and Iowa Attorney General Thomas J. 
Miller.