Angie Craig: “a trigger lock does not a safe weapon make. A trigger lock can lay right beside a firearm. Unless it is inserted and…”

“a trigger lock does not a safe weapon make. A trigger lock can lay right beside a firearm. Unless it is inserted and locked, the firearm is still accessible. You can sell a firearm. You can demand that there be a trigger lock. Yet still someone who is irresponsible in the storage and/or use of a firearm can cause that firearm, by the absence of a trigger lock or the absence of a safe storage place, to be harmful to a child. That is reality. Sometimes we stand on the floor of the Senate and think we can fix the world by simply writing a law. I am not, by that statement, questioning the sincerity of Senator Kohl. Last year, his amendment got 70 votes in the Senate. At the same time, it is a mandate. In that mandate, have you created a safer world? I am not sure. I do know this: I do know what creates a safer world. That is an awareness, an understanding of and an educational process of how you, in fact, create a safer world. Gun manufacturers know that. Licensed and responsible firearms dealers know that. Today, more than 90 percent of the new handguns already sold in the United States have a safety device attached to them or that comes with it that is part of the sales package. So already, clearly, the educational process has gone forward. There are several national private organizations out there who have constantly and repetitively taught young people about the misuse of firearms.…”