    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 25 (Monday, June 26, 2000)]
    [Page 1421]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Statement on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Report

    June 21, 2000

        Today's report by the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol,
    Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) demonstrates that our administration is
    tough on gun traffickers who peddle guns to criminals and young people.
    Between July 1996 and December 1998, ATF initiated more than 1,500
    firearms trafficking investigations, resulting in Federal convictions of
    812 criminals to a total of 7,420 years in prison--with an average
    sentence of 9 years.
        Gun trafficking puts thousands of guns onto our Nation's streets and
    contributes significantly to our Nation's gun violence problem. The
    investigations documented in today's report involved the diversion of
    more than 84,000 firearms from the legal to illegal market. The report
    shows that loopholes in our laws help make gun shows and corrupt gun
    dealers major channels for gun trafficking. Many of the diverted weapons
    supplied by traffickers were later used to commit serious crimes,
    including homicides, robberies, and assaults. Each gun put into the hand
    of a criminal represents the possibility of one more life lost, one more
    family destroyed.
        Through tough enforcement and smart prevention, we have reduced gun
    crime by 35 percent and increased Federal gun prosecutions 16 percent
    since 1992. There is more we can do to keep guns out of the wrong hands.
    I will continue to press the Congress to fully fund my $280 million gun
    enforcement initiative, to add more ATF agents and inspectors to crack
    down on gun traffickers, corrupt gun dealers, and armed gun criminals,
    as well as hire more Federal, State, and local gun prosecutors to put
    more gun criminals behind bars. But Congress must also close the deadly
    loopholes in our laws that make guns accessible to criminals and
    children in the first place. Congress should move forward to close the
    deadly gun show loophole once and for all and pass other stalled
    commonsense gun measures without further delay.