[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 20 (Monday, May 22, 2000)]
[Pages 1104-1105]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

May 13, 2000

    Good morning. This weekend Americans celebrate the first Mother's 
Day of the 21st century. For most of us, it's a happy occasion, a chance 
to thank the women who gave us life, cared for us as children, nurtured 
us into adulthood. But for thousands of mothers and fathers whose 
children have been killed by gun fire, tomorrow will be a day of sad 
memories.
    Every day in America, nearly a dozen children are killed by guns, 
and 12 families receive a wound that never heals. And every day in 
America millions of moms and dads watch their children walk out the door 
in the morning and wonder if they'll come home safe that night.
    That's why the First Lady and I are giving our strong support to 
tomorrow's Million Mom March. Tens of thousands of mothers and others 
are marching in Washington and more than 60 other cities across our 
Nation. They're saying, enough is enough. Congress must pass commonsense 
gun legislation to protect our children without constraining the rights 
of legitimate gun owners.
    Many of the organizers have lost children of their own and other 
loved ones to gun fire. This past week I met with some of them at the 
White House and heard their stories: a son shot while playing with 
neighbors in his own backyard in New York; a teenager shot at his front 
door by party crashers in Virginia; a daughter shot with four others by 
classmates at her Arkansas middle school; a young man shot by Illinois 
gang members who expected, just like on television, that he would get up 
and walk away.
    These moms are finding in their fear and loss the strength to send a 
wake-up call across America. As a father, I was heartbroken by their 
stories; as an American citizen, I was inspired. They're saying gun 
violence touches us all, wherever we live, whatever the color of our 
skin, whether or not we have children. They remind us that the loss of a 
child is a loss for us all. And they know we have the power to do 
something about it.
    We do have the power to teach our children the right values, to 
build strong communities, to crack down on those who use guns to commit 
crimes. But the key to our success in this, as in so many areas, has got 
to be more prevention, doing more to keep guns out of the hands of 
children and criminals in the first place. There's no reason why we 
can't do that.
    The Million Mom March is calling on Congress to act on the 
commonsense gun legislation that has been before it for 10 months now. 
The bill wouldn't take away anybody's gun or make anyone miss a day 
during the hunting season. What it would do is to close the loophole 
that lets anyone buy a gun at a gun show without a background check. It 
would require child safety locks with all new handguns. And it would ban 
the import of large capacity ammunition clips, which nobody is using for 
sport or self-defense, and

[[Page 1105]]

which makes a mockery of our assault weapons ban.
    I think the Million Mom March is already a success, before anyone 
takes the first step. These people are helping to lead a grassroots 
effort that has already put stronger laws in place in States like 
California, Massachusetts, and Maryland. They're letting the gun lobby 
know it is no match for America's moms. But our nationwide fight won't 
be over tomorrow, no matter how many march. We have so much work still 
to do.
    Throughout our entire history as a nation every movement for social 
progress, every step toward safety and justice for all has been fueled 
by the energy and effort of ordinary citizens. The Million Mom March is 
the latest successor to that great American tradition. If the moms stick 
with it, they will succeed. They will make America a safer, more humane 
nation. Helping to keep guns out of the wrong hands is a Mother's Day 
gift we can all be proud of.
    Happy Mother's Day, and thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 10:25 a.m. on May 12 in the Ohio Army/
National Guard Facility in Akron, Ohio, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on 
May 13. The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on May 12 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.