    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 15 (Monday, April 17, 2000)]
    [Pages 793-796]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks at a Gun Safety Rally in Denver, Colorado

    April 12, 2000

        The President. Thank you. Thank you so very much for making me feel
    welcome. And I thank you for reminding me again what this is all about.
    I want to thank my long-time friend Wellington Webb for his leadership
    in this fight and his leadership of Denver. I thank Tom Mauser for
    having the courage not to be broken by his loss but to give his son the
    legacy he deserves.
        I thank John Head and Arnie Grossman for reminding us that this is
    not about party politics; it's about saving people's lives. And I also
    want to thank my longtime friend, your former Governor, Dick Lamm, who's
    here, and former Governor John Love, who's not here, for also reminding
    us this is not about party politics. I thank Attorney General Ken
    Salazar and Governor Bill Owens, who is also not here, but I want to
    thank them both for what they tried to do in the legislature and for
    what they're trying to do to help you pass this referendum.
        I want to thank the other SAFE board members who are here on stage.
    And I want to acknowledge--it's already been mentioned by Arnie, but I
    want to tell you that I had the privilege of meeting with the SAFE
    students--David Winkler, Ben Gelt, and their other colleagues in
    Washington. They told me today, David and Ben, that they've now been to
    30 States, and they have 10,000 young people across America enlisted in
    this cause. So I want to thank them. I think we ought to give them a big
    hand. [Applause]
        Finally, I will say more about this in a moment, but as you know,
    I'm trying to pass some legislation on this subject in Washington, and
    there are three people I want to acknowledge. First of all, a former
    Congressman from Maryland, Mike Barnes, who's the president of Handgun
    Control, who came with me, and he's up here today. Mike, thank you for
    coming. Secondly, Representative Diana DeGette from Colorado, who is
    supporting our legislation in Washington. Thank you, Diana, for what
    you're doing. Thank you. Thank you. And someone who's not on the
    platform, I don't think, today, but who came all the way from Washington
    with me because he believes so strongly in this, and he wanted to
    express his solidarity with you, the Democratic leader in the House of
    Representatives, Dick Gephardt from Missouri, came all the way from
    Washington to be here today. And I want to thank him for doing that.
        Let me say that not only Denver but the whole State of Colorado is a
    mile high in the eyes of your fellow Americans today. You come from all
    backgrounds, different communities, and surely different political
    parties, to speak with a single voice for common sense and safety and
    the future of our children. I want to tell you, first, you are not
    alone; and second, America is listening.
        All across America, people like you are speaking up: here, where
    you're taking the lead, working to close the gun show loophole because
    the legislature wouldn't do it for you, in spite of the leadership of
    Governor Owens and Attorney General Salazar; in Maryland, another State
    with a lot of hunters and sports shooters, which yesterday became the
    first State to require built-in safety locks for all new handguns; in
    California, which banned junk guns, a new generation of assault weapons,
    and limited handgun sales to one a month; in Massachusetts, now
    enforcing consumer product safety rules for guns, banning junk guns,
    requiring child trigger locks and other devices to prevent children from
    firing guns. All these steps have helped to protect more of our
    children. But every child in America deserves these protections.
    Reducing gun violence is a national challenge.
        I came here, first, to say I support what you're doing. And in spite
    of all the attempts to put roadblocks in your way, you must not be
    deterred. Your leaders told me you need 62,000 signatures to put this
    initiative on the ballot. The purpose of all these delaying tactics is
    to put off the day when you can start gathering the signatures. I want
    every one of you who is here today to sign up with these folks when you
    leave, because you ought to be able to get 62,000 signatures in 2 hours
    if everybody who is for this will sign up and go get the signatures.

    [[Page 794]]

        The second thing I wanted to do is to say that you deserve a
    National Government that follows your lead, and Congress is the only
    body that can provide the kind of national approach we need to protect
    all the children in every State. That's why I asked----

    [At this point, there was a disturbance in the audience.]

        The President. That's why I asked----

    [The disturbance continued.]

        The President. Sir, this meeting is not about you and not about me.
    So would you please let me give the speech? [Applause]
        I'll be glad to speak to him out there, but you came here to talk
    about something else.
        Now, let me say to all of you, the thing--I'm very proud of the fact
    that you've made this a bipartisan effort. And as John said when he
    spoke, it is true that even in Washington not every Democrat is for this
    legislation, and not every Republican is against it. This is largely a
    matter of political organization and power among the opponents of this
    legislation--here, too--and a matter of culture.
        One of the reasons I wanted to come here is that I grew up in a
    State not all that different from Colorado. I was 12 years old when I
    first shot a can off a fencepost with a .22. Unlike most elected
    officials in Washington, I've actually been to gun shows. I understand
    what is going on here. But I will say this: The message you are sending
    the country is not that this is the only answer but that it's an
    important answer. The message you are sending the country is not that we
    shouldn't have stronger enforcement of the laws--we should; not that we
    shouldn't teach firearms safety--we should; not that we shouldn't have
    community efforts like our national campaign against youth violence is
    promoting, to strengthen the role of parents and families and schools
    and community groups--we should. But that is not an excuse for saying
    that guns are the only area of our national life where there will be no
    prevention. That is their position, and that is wrong.
        We punish reckless drivers, but we still have seatbelts in our car
    and child safety seats for our kids. We punish people who hijack
    airplanes and terrorists who blow them up, but we still--thank God--have
    got airport metal detectors. Every one of us, just about, at least my
    age, were raised by usually our mothers telling us that an ounce of
    prevention is worth a pound of cure. Gun safety cannot be the only area
    of our national life where we say no to prevention. Colorado is here to
    say we have lost enough of our children; it's time to have prevention,
    too, in this important area of our national life.
        When I signed the Brady bill into law in 1993, a law which had been
    vetoed by the previous President, the same people who are fighting you
    said the Brady bill would do no good because all the criminals bought
    their guns at gun shows and urban flea markets--[laughter]--and out of
    the back of trunks from one another. And therefore, this prevention
    would do no good; it would just be a terrible burden for hunters and
    sports people.
        Well, 6 years later and a few months, over half a million felons,
    fugitives, and stalkers have been unable to get handguns. Gun crime down
    more than 35 percent; homicide down to a 31-year low: it worked.
        But no one believes this country is safe enough. I don't want any
    future President to have to go to Columbine, or to Springfield, Oregon,
    or to Jonesboro, Arkansas, or to all the other places I have been. It's
    tough enough to comfort the families of our service men and women who
    die in the line of duty. Children have no duties, except to their
    studies and their families. Our duty is to protect their lives and give
    them futures.
        I know I'm talking to the converted here, but I want the evidence to
    get out. This gun show loophole is now a serious problem. Last year a
    study by the Departments of Justice and Treasury of 314 gun show
    investigations showed the following: 34 percent of the sales
    investigated involved guns later used in serious crimes, a total of
    54,000 gun crimes. This is a serious problem.
        Now, should we have--I will say again--should we have a
    comprehensive strategy? Of course, we should. Does the media have a
    responsibility? Do communities have a responsibility--schools, parents?
    Absolutely. Is teaching people gun safety an important part of this
    responsibility? Of course, it is. When the NRA was focusing on teaching
    young

    [[Page 795]]

    people gun safety in my home State, I supported them in every way I
    could. But it is no excuse not to have prevention.
        Let me tell you something. I come from a State where factories in
    small towns shut down on the first day of deer season every year. And
    when we were debating the Brady bill and the assault weapons ban, I
    heard all this stuff, and I told them, I said, ``If you miss a day, even
    an hour in the deer woods, I'll be against this bill.'' Of course, they
    haven't. That's not what this is about. So I say to you, you have to go
    out and say this. Now, people say--the same people who said 6 years ago
    that all these criminals were getting their guns at gun shows and urban
    flea markets and, therefore, the Brady bill wouldn't work, now say you
    can't have background checks at gun shows because it would be so
    burdensome.
        Well, let me tell you what the burden is. More than 70 percent of
    these checks can be done within minutes; 95 percent can be done within a
    day. The 5 percent that can't be done within a day should still be done.
    Why? Because they are 20 times more likely to be rejected because of a
    criminal background or another problem. Those are the facts. Now, I
    don't know about you, but I think it's worth a little bit of
    inconvenience to save a few thousand lives over the next few years.
        Now, should we enforce the law? Yes, we should. Gun crime
    prosecutions are up by 16 percent since I've been President. The average
    person convicted is serving 2 years longer. Gun crime down, as I said,
    by 35 percent.
        Here in Colorado, your U.S. Attorney, Tom Strickland, is working
    with local officials on Colorado's Project Exile. They're enforcing the
    laws more vigorously, including against those who violate the Brady
    bill. But I will say again, the real question is, with the children's
    lives at stake, with the accidental gun rate of kids under 15 in this
    country--the accidental gun rate--9 times higher than that of the next
    25 biggest economies combined, how can we say prevention has no role?
        You all believe this, but I want you to have these facts to argue.
    And I want you to understand that the country is looking very closely at
    Colorado. We know it's a State that has Republicans and Democrats. We
    know it's a State that has a strong culture that favors hunting and
    sport shooting. We know it's a State with a broken heart over Columbine.
    We know it's a State where people can put aside their partisan
    differences, and maybe even their lifetime culture, to look at the
    facts.
        Now, other States will follow your lead. I hope and pray Congress
    will follow your lead, as well. But you must not get tired or
    frustrated. You must not even get angry. You've got to go talk to these
    people. Believe me, not every member of the National Rifle Association
    is dead set against you. They get this stuff in the mail; they hear this
    stuff over the airwaves, but they love their children, too. I wouldn't
    give up on anybody.
        But the main thing you have got to do is win here. So I will say
    again, if you haven't signed up to be with SAFE, sign up on your way
    out, and find out when those petitions get circulated, and do your part.
        Look how many people are here. If everybody in this room--everybody
    in this room--there's about 3,000 people here, right?--if you got 20
    signatures, it would be a done deal.
        In the end, change is always difficult. But you must understand how
    important it is for your children and people all over the country. If
    you do this, you will give so much energy to people who have been
    sitting around in other States like yours, thinking it was a hopeless
    battle, thinking they couldn't win. If you do this, you will give
    enormous impetus to our efforts in Congress to try to provide national
    protections.
        And most important, if you do this, you will say, we're going to
    treat this area of our life like every other area of our national life.
    America is the country that respects the rights of people. But we've
    still got our rights over 200 years later, since we started, because we
    also exercise our responsibility, especially for our children and their
    future.
        I admire you. I support you. Don't quit until you win.
        Thank you very much.

     Note:  The President spoke at 11:40 a.m. in the Colorado Convention
    Center. In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Wellington E. Webb of
    Denver;

    [[Page 796]]

    Tom Mauser, political director, and John Head and Arnold J. Grossman,
    co-presidents, Sane Alternatives to the Firearms Epidemic (SAFE)
    Colorado; former Governors Richard D. Lamm and John A. Love and current
    Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado; and Colorado State Attorney General Kenneth
    Salazar.