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Late Breaking News |
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| Date: July 15, 1998 1:18 pm Contact: Handgun Control Inc. www.handguncontrol.org |
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Latest News Releases
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Senators Durbin, Lautenberg, Rep. Schumer Introduce Bill To Save Brady Waiting Period | ||
| WASHINGTON - July 15 - Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, Senator Frank
Lautenberg of New Jersey and Representative Charles Schumer of New York today introduced a
bill that will establish a minimum three-day waiting period for the purchase of firearms
when the original Brady Law sunsets at the end of November, 1998. The original Brady Law,
which mandated a waiting period and background check for all handgun purchasers, is due to
be replaced by a National Instant Check System (NICS), which relies on computerized
federal data to immediately check prospective firearms purchasers for felony convictions
and other barriers to purchase. Without a mandatory waiting period, local police
departments will not have time to participate in the background check, and gun purchasers
considering crimes of passion or impulse suicides will no longer have a
"cooling-off" period to protect themselves or their victims. "We need to protect the Brady Law’s waiting period for gun purchases so that there is time for the police to check the records on the buyer and time for tempers to cool," said Senator Durbin, who has long supported stricter standards for the ownership and use of guns. "We can not allow the gun lobby to override the police and endanger American families." Since the implementation of the Brady Law in 1994, almost a quarter-million prohibited purchasers have been stopped from buying handguns in gun stores. Additionally, a 1997 study by the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence demonstrated that states that began conducting background checks on handgun purchasers when the Brady Act was implemented in 1994 are as much as 86% less likely to be sources of guns used in crimes in other states than they were prior to when the checks were performed. Despite a 1997 Supreme Court decision that struck down the federal mandate for background checks based on Tenth Amendment limits on federal power to enforce commands to state and local officials, more than 95% of the nation’s law enforcement officers continue to do background checks on a voluntary basis. "Police support the original Brady provisions because they know that waiting periods save lives," said Sarah Brady, Handgun Control, Inc. chair. "The Justice Department has done its job, but the federal database will not contain many of the records that police would use to disqualify firearms purchasers. The police need time to provide that information to gun dealers and federal authorities, and to discourage ordinary people who want a gun immediately for a crime of passion or suicide." The Brady Law, first introduced in 1987, took seven years to pass Congress and garner White House support. The sunset provisions eliminating the waiting period after five years in favor of Instant Check were contained in a successful amendment sponsored by the National Rifle Association. The amendment’s passage allowed the NRA to claim a victory to its membership and to the public – despite its long fight against the Brady Bill and despite the amendment’s provision that will extend background checks to long guns on November 30. Every national public opinion poll since the early ‘90’s has demonstrated overwhelming support from the American public, including gunowners, for both background checks and waiting periods. "We are about to take a giant step backward in the fight to keep guns out of the hands of criminals", said Representative Charles Schumer, who authored the Brady Law which passed the House in 1993. "We shall see if this Congress can stand up to the NRA to do what everyone knows is right." ### |
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