| WASHINGTON
- MAY 12 - The following was released today by Handgun Control Inc. (HCI):
The Senate today voted down
an amendment to juvenile justice legislation that would have effectively closed
the gun show loophole allowing criminals and minors to buy guns without background
checks. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), failed 51-47,
garnering six Republican votes, and marked the first important gun control vote
on the Senate floor since 1996.
The Senate also approved
an amendment offered by NRA board member
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), which will continue the loophole on gun-show sales,
restore the ability of felons to recover their guns from pawn shops, protect gun-sellers
from any civil liability for any negligence in selling guns, allow licensed gun
dealers to sell and transfer guns at out-of-state gun shows, and eliminate funding
and record-keeping for the National Instant Check System (background checks).
"The Senate should be ashamed.
It has told the nation that felons and minors can continue to buy guns, no questions
asked, at cash-and-carry arms bazaars, and made it even easier for them to do
so," said Handgun Control Chair Sarah Brady. "It is tragic that while we are still
mourning the 13 people who died at Littleton from gun-show guns, the Senate has
ignored the outrage and outcry of the American people and done the gun lobby's
bidding. To add insult to injury, the Senate has now made it possible for felons
to recover their pawned guns and has protected gun-sellers from civil liability
even when they knowingly sell guns to straw purchasers for felons. The Senate
has even voted to give 100,000 licensed gun dealers the authority to complete
sales of guns at out-of-state gun shows.
"Only when the vast majority
of Americans who want to keep guns away from kids make their voices heard will
we see a response from the United States Senate."
Since the Brady Law was
implemented in 1994, federally licensed firearms dealers have conducted background
checks on all handgun purchasers. In most states and under federal law, however,
it is perfectly legal for individuals to sell guns from their "private collections"
at gun shows without a waiting period or background check on the purchaser. Many
unscrupulous gun dealers exploit this loophole to operate full-fledged businesses
without following federal or state gun laws. And criminals are more than happy
to keep these under-the-table arms dealers in business. In addition to providing
firearms to the two Littleton killers, gun shows have been used to buy and sell
guns by the nation's most notorious criminals, including David Koresh, Timothy
McVeigh, his cohorts Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier, and Hank Earl Carr, who
gunned down his stepson and three police officers in Tampa in 1998 before turning
his gun on himself.
"The ATF has just demonstrated
that felons buying or selling firearms were involved in more than 46 percent of
their investigations involving gun shows," Brady said. "Now, with the Craig amendment,
the Senate has offered gun-sellers immunity from liability for buying or selling
guns to straw buyers for felons, and allowed criminals to repossess their pawned
weapons with no questions asked. In the wake of Littleton, in the wake of the
millions of American children who are still at risk from under-the-table guns,
the Senate's actions today are a travesty that the American people must repudiate.
"Fifteen people died at
Littleton and the U.S. Senate has voted to gut our gun laws. Shame on the Senate."
------
Handgun Control, chaired by Sarah Brady, is the nation's largest citizens' gun
control lobbying organization. Based in Washington, D.C., HCI works to enact stronger
federal, state and local gun control laws, but does not seek to ban handguns.
Founded in 1974, HCI has more than 400,000 members nationwide and works with local
groups around the country to enact and protect reasonable gun control laws. More
information about HCI and its affiliated organization, the Center to Prevent Handgun
Violence, can be found on its Web site at http://www.handguncontrol.org
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