Yes, war is a proper analogy for America's domestic violence, which is far worse than our most recent foreign war. During the Vietnam War, more American civilians were murdered with handguns here at home in America than American soldiers killed in action in Vietnam. And I repeat, that is murder. That is not accidents or suicides. And that is handguns. That is not rifles and shotguns.
Your colleagues are well aware that six Presidential Commissions, as well as the Reagan administration's Task Force on Violent Crime, have urged Congress to pass tougher handgun laws. Our nation's leading law enforcement organizations—the Police Executive Research Forum, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Association of Attorneys General—also support tougher handgun control laws.
The handgun waiting period … has two important features: First, it would provide an opportunity for law enforcement officials to ensure that the prospective purchaser was who he said he was and did not have a criminal record, a history of mental illness or drug addiction, was at least twenty-one, and was a state resident. Second, it would provide a "cooling off" period for individuals intent on buying handguns to commit crimes of passion….
Your colleagues are no doubt aware of the growing handgun violence which has prompted a ground swell of public outrage across the country. Simply put, Americans are fed up with the handgun violence that is changing our lives and changing our country. And, to understate their outrage, they are growing impatient with congressional inaction. This explosion of state and local action shows that our citizens recognize the difference between handguns and long guns. They know that handguns are used by criminals, that long guns are used by hunters.
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