There Should Be Stricter Gun Control Laws - Statement Of Bill Bradley (d-nj), Congressional Record, Senate, April 26, 1994

Every year, more than twenty-four thousand Americans … are killed with handguns…. Some will argue that these grim statistics are the result of weak law enforcement, light sentencing, legitimate fear, and the waning of family values. Others will argue that they are the result of joblessness, poverty, and long-term neglect of our most violent neighborhoods. I have no doubt that the growing rate of violent activity has been aggravated in part by all these factors. But accepting many of these causes of handgun violence does not erase the reality that crime and deviant behavior have become much more of a burden on our society because of the explosive growth in handguns. Disputes that were settled with fists and knives ten years ago are now being settled with guns.