Louis Stokes: “I rise today to express my strong support of H.R. 4296, the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act.…”

“I rise today to express my strong support of H.R. 4296, the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act. I commend my colleague from New York, Representative Chuck Schumer for his effort in bringing this piece of legislation to the floor and addressing an issue which is pertinent to all Americans, the issue of gun control. I am certain my colleagues would agree that Americans from all walks of life are looking for action on this problem. H.R. 4296 makes it illegal for a person to own, manufacture or sell specified semiautomatic assault weapons, exempting those weapons which are already legally owned. In addition, there are 650 specified sporting guns which are exempted from the ban. Of the 19 specified weapons included in this bill, none are used for hunting or other sporting purposes. These are military-style assault weapons designed to injure as many human beings as quickly as possible. Increasingly, these weapons are becoming the weapon of choice for violent criminals and drug dealers. Although these weapons represent only 1 percent of privately owned firearms in this country, they represent 8 percent of the firearms traced to a crime, and are 18 times more likely to be used to kill police officers than any other gun. From 1990 to 1993, law enforcement officials reported a 37-percent increase in the use of assault weapons.”