There Should Be Stricter Gun Control Laws - Statement Of Senator John Mccain (r-az), In Support Of Closing The Gun-show Loophole (excerpt), March 2, 2004

Why do we need this amendment? Some might point to tragedies such as Columbine, but as horrific as the massacre at Columbine was, where eleven young people needlessly lost their lives, that is not what drives the need to close the gun-show loophole. We need this amendment because criminals and terrorists have exploited and are exploiting this very obvious loophole in our gun safety laws. We need this amendment because our Second Amendment rights do not extend to criminals who violate our laws and terrorists who hate this country.

We need this amendment because, according to the NRA [National Rifle Association], "hundreds of thousands" of unlicensed firearms sales occur at gun shows each year. We need this amendment because ATF [the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives] has identified gun shows as the second leading source of firearms recovered from illegal gun trafficking investigations.

We also need this amendment because my law-abiding constituents who attend gun shows in Arizona should not have to rub shoulders with the scum of the Earth who use this loophole to evade background checks to buy firearms to peddle to God knows who. We need this because every one of the fifteen leading gun trafficking states in America has not taken action to close the gun-show loophole. Conversely, eleven of the fifteen states with the lowest level of interstate gun trafficking have taken action to close the gun-show loophole.

When discussing the topic of gun safety, I often hear my colleagues say things such as, let's enforce existing law before we make new ones. I completely agree and that is exactly what we are seeking to do today. We are seeking to strengthen existing laws by closing an enormous, dangerous loophole.