From Al Gore's speech to the Boston Police Department in July 1999:
"For all the challenges we face in the fight against crime, there is one that looms over the rest: it is too easy for a child or a criminal to get a gun in America. And there are too many political leaders who take their marching orders from the _gun lobby_. I call upon you to join with me, to create a family lobby that is greater and more powerful than the gun lobby—so we can get the guns away from children and criminals, once and for all.
We're working now to raise the age for handgun possession from 18 to 21. To pass strict background checks for those who buy guns at gun shows. To enact stiff, new penalties for adults who sell guns to minors. And to require child-safety locks on guns. I recently saw a billboard here in Boston posted by the Newton, Massachusetts group Stop Handgun Violence. It said: "It's a lot easier to child-proof a gun than it is to bullet-proof a child." I agree.
We need to pass all these measures right away. But we need to do much, much more. I respect the rights of _qualified_ gun owners. But we have lost too many children to have our safety held hostage by the gun lobby.
As President, I will do whatever it takes to get the guns away from children and criminals, and close every loophole in our lawbooks. And here is how I want to start. I will fight for a national requirement that every state issue photo licenses for anyone who wants to buy a handgun. States would have broad discretion in how to administer and implement this program. But one thing would be clear: unless you obtain a license, pass a background check, and pass a gun safety test, you could not buy a handgun. Not in a gun shop, not at a gun show, not on a street corner, not anywhere in America.
We know background checks work. Since we passed the Brady Law, gun crimes have dropped by 38 percent. The Brady Law has stopped nearly a quarter of a million felons and fugitives from buying guns, and saved countless lives. But today's patchwork of background checks just isn't good enough.
We require a license to drive a car in this nation, to keep unsafe drivers off the road. Now we should require a license to own a handgun—so people who shouldn't have them can't get them.
It's time. The gun lobby is sure to have a fit. But to me, it is worth it, and I am sure the decent people of America will agree: because too many illegal guns are flooding our communities—and too many precious lives are being lost.
And it is time to get tougher on dealers and sellers who violate our gun laws. We need to crack down on open air gun markets—where criminals are known to gather and buy guns—and all places where guns are sold illegally to kids and criminals.
We should say to every rogue gun dealer in America: the first time you willfully break our gun laws by selling guns to a felon or a child, we'll suspend your license. And if you do it again, we'll take away your license for good. No excuses.
We also have to improve a spotty system of record-keeping, to make it easier for law enforcement to catch gun-toting criminals. I believe all gun manufacturers and federally licensed dealers should have to report handgun sales to a state authority, so we can trace the guns used in violent crimes.
We need to ban so-called "junk guns"—cheap, easily concealed handguns that are causing havoc in too many communities.
I believe we need tougher penalties for gun trafficking, and all crimes committed with guns. And I will work with states that want to end the practice of plea bargaining for crimes committed with guns. Innocent defendants shouldn't feel pressured to plead guilty to get a lighter sentence. And those who are truly guilty shouldn't be able to bargain their way out of the full sentence they deserve.
Let me tell you what we must not do: we must not loosen the _restrictions on concealed weapons._I will lead the fight against legislation that makes it easier to hide a handgun in America.
After all the gun tragedies in this nation—after Columbine, and Jonesboro, and Conyers, Georgia, and all the future massacres it is up to us to prevent—it is time for a new, bipartisan consensus on this issue. Some want to enact new protections for gun manufacturers. I want to pass new protections for families. Some want more concealed weapons—but they can't conceal the fact that they're just doing the NRA's bidding. Some want to overturn local gun control laws. I want to overturn the influence of the gun lobby. And I need your help to do it."
Any questions?
Dick
Want to send a message to Bush? Sign the petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/monk/petition.html and forward the link to every gun owner you know.
