These White House Press Releases are in the following order: the big handgun import ban, tightened up gun dealer licensing, and the crime bill in general. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _______________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release August 11, 1993 August 11, 1993 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY SUBJECT: Importation of Assault Pistols A category of pistols commonly referred to as assault pistols has increasingly become the weapon of choice for drug dealers, street gang members, and other violent criminals. These pistols, generally characterized by their bulky military-style appearance and large magazine capacity, include domestically manufactured TEC-9's and MAC-10's as well as imported models like the Uzi pistol and the H&K SP-89. Their popularity appears to stem from their intimidating appearance and their considerable firepower. These weapons have been used to harm and terrorize many Americans, particularly our children, in recent years. As a result, it is no longer possible to stand by and witness the deadly proliferation of these weapons without acting to protect our communities. Although addressing the domestic production of these weapons requires a change in the statute, which I support, existing law already bans the importation of firearms unless they are determined to be particularly suitable for or readily adaptable for sporting purposes. I am informed that shortly after enact- ment of the Gun Control Act of 1968, the Treasury Department adopted a factoring system to determine whether handguns were importable pursuant to this standard. The system entails the examination of the firearm against a set of criteria, with points being awarded for various features. A minimum score is required before importation is approved. The criteria and weighted point system were designed to address the crime gun of the day, the cheap, easily concealable "Saturday Night Special." Under this 25-year old system, small caliber, easily concealable handguns score few points and are banned from importation. However, assault-type pistols -- the new crime gun of the day -- because of their large size, weight, and caliber, easily score the necessary points to qualify for importation even though none of these pistols appears to have any legitimate sporting purpose. Accordingly, it is time to reassess how the present regulatory approach can be made more effective in achieving the legislative directive to preclude importation of firearms that are not particularly suitable for or readily adaptable for sporting purposes. I hereby direct you to take the necessary steps to reexamine the current importation factoring system to determine whether the system should be modified to ensure that all nonsporting handguns are properly denied importation. You have advised me that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) will issue a notice of proposed rule-making in the near future that will propose changes to the factoring system to address the assault pistol problem. You have further advised me that effective immediately action on pending applications to import these weapons will be suspended, and that final action on any application will be delayed until this review process is completed. Nothing herein shall be construed to require actions contrary to applicable provisions of law. You are hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register. WILLIAM J. CLINTON # # # THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _______________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release August 11, 1993 August 11, 1993 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY SUBJECT: Gun Dealer Licensing A major problem facing the Nation today is the ease with which criminals, the mentally deranged, and even children can acquire firearms. The gruesome consequences of this ready availability of guns is found in the senseless violence occurring throughout the country with numbing regularity. While there is not one solution to the plague of gun-related violence, there is more than sufficient evidence indicating that a major part of the problem involves the present system of gun dealer licensing, which encourages a flourishing criminal market in guns. The Gun Control Act of 1968 established a licensing system for persons engaged in businesses of manufacturing, importing, and dealing in firearms. These licensees are allowed to ship firearms in interstate commerce among themselves, and are required to abide by State laws and local ordinances in their sale of firearms to non-licensees. They are also prohibited from selling firearms to felons, certain other classes of persons, and generally to out of state persons. This Act also established a comprehensive record-keeping system and authorized the Secretary to conduct inspections to ensure compliance with the Act. The statutory qualifications for a licensee are that the applicant is at least 21 years of age, is not a felon or other person prohibited from possessing firearms, has not willfully violated the Gun Control Act, and has premises from which he intends to conduct business. The license fee for a basic dealer's license is only $10 a year. The minimal qualification standards of the statute, coupled with policies of neglect and opposition to legitimate regulatory efforts by past Administrations, leave us with a situation where in some ways we have made it easier to get a license to sell guns than it is to get and keep a driver's license. Today there are in excess of 287,000 Federal firearms licensees, and a great number of these persons probably should not be licensed. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) estimates that only about 30 percent of these are bona fide storefront gun dealers. ATF estimates that probably 40 percent of the licensees conduct no business at all, and are simply persons who use the license to obtain the benefits of trading interstate and buying guns at wholesale. The remaining 30 percent of licensees engage in a limited level of business, typically out of private residences. While the Federal statute creates no minimum level of business activity to qualify for a license, many of the licensees in this category operate in violation of State and local licensing, taxing, and other business-related laws. Since the overall purpose of the Gun Control Act was to assist State and local gun control efforts, at the very least we need to coordinate the Federal licensing process with the appropriate State and local agencies. more (OVER) 2 This Administration is committed to doing more to prevent this criminal market in illegal guns from continuing to flourish. Since all new firearms used in crime have at some point passed through the legitimate distribution system, Federal firearms licenses represent the first line of defense in our efforts to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Accordingly, you have informed me that you will direct the Department of the Treasury and ATF to take whatever steps are necessary, to the extent permitted by law, to ensure compliance with present licensing requirements, such as: (a) improving the thoroughness and effectiveness of background checks in screening dealer license applicants; (b) revising the application process to require the applicant to supply all information relevant to establishing qualification for a license, and to require more reliable forms of identification of the applicant, such as fingerprinting, to assist in identifying an applicant's criminal or other disqualifying history; (c) making the "premises" requirement of the statute more meaningful by increasing field checks and the use of other procedures to verify compliance; (d) increasing the scrutiny of licensees' multiple handgun sales reports and providing automated access to multiple sales report information by serial number for firearms trace purposes; (e) requiring dealers to obtain more reliable identifica- tion from purchasers; (f) reviewing sanctioning policies to determine the feasibility and desirability of adding the option of license suspension for certain violations; (g) expanding the use of cooperative agreements with State and local law enforcement agencies to address licensing and trafficking problems; (h) expanding ATF's capabilities to utilize effectively the firearms transaction records of out-of-business licensees for tracing purposes through the use of automation and other technology. Acting pursuant to your statutory authority, you shall make such determinations and issue orders, regulations and rulings, as appropriate, to achieve the objectives stated in this memorandum. I further direct that you initiate these actions as soon as possible and report your progress implementing these and other measures consistent with the foregoing to me within 90 days and annually thereafter. All Executive agencies shall, to the extent permitted by law, cooperate with and assist you in carrying out the objectives of this memorandum. You shall consult with the Attorney General, the Director of National Drug Control Policy, and other Executive agencies as necessary to coordinate and imple- ment the objective of this memorandum. To the maximum extent possible, the Attorney General, through the Office of Justice more 3 Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, will expand support to State and local agencies working with ATF on joint projects relating to licensing and trafficking in firearms. Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to require actions contrary to applicable provisions of the law. You are hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register. WILLIAM J. CLINTON # # # THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release August 11, 1993 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN ANTI-CRIME INITIATIVE ANNOUNCEMENT The Rose Garden 9:43 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Mr. Vice President and Attorney General, distinguished members of the Congress and law enforcement community and concerned American citizens. I'm glad to have all of you here in the Rose Garden today for this important announcement. I want to say a special word of appreciation to Senator Biden and to Chairman Brooks who have worked for a long time to try to get a good crime bill through the United States Congress. I hope today is the beginning of that. I'm proud to be here with representatives of the nation's police and prosecutors and states attorneys general with whom we have worked closely to fashion this bill. And it gives me particular pleasure to be here with some of the brave men and women who risk their lives every day to protect the people of this country and to preserve the law. The first duty of any government is to try to keep its citizens safe, but clearly too many Americans are not safe today. We no longer have the freedom from fear for all our citizens that is essential to security and to prosperity. The past four years have seen 90,000 murders in this country. Last month in this city, our nation's capital, in one week 24 murders were committed. When our children must pass through metal detectors to go to school, or worry that they'll be the victim of random drive-by shootings when they're playing in the swimming pool in the summertime, when parents are imprisoned in their own apartments behind locked doors, when we can't walk the streets of our cities without fear, we have lost an essential element of our civilization. Many of you have heard me tell many times over the last year and a half or so of the immigrant worker in the New York hotel who said if I became President he just wanted me to make his son free. And when I asked him what he meant, he meant that his son couldn't walk to school two blocks without his walking with him, he son couldn't play in the park across the street from their apartment house without his father being there. He said his son was not free. It's time we put aside the divisions of party and philosophy and put our best efforts to work on a crime plan that will help all the American people and go beyond the cynicism of mere speeches to clear action. Today I'm proud to be here with the chairs of the House and the Senate Judiciary Committees to announce this plan. The plan is not -- it's tough, it is fair. It will put police on the street and criminals in jail. It expands the federal death penalty to let criminals know that if they are guilty, they will be punished. It lets law abiding citizens know that we are working to give them the safety they deserve. It is the beginning -- just the beginning, but a major beginning of a long-term strategy to make America a more law abiding, peaceful place, and to make Americans more secure, and to give our young people, wherever they live, a better chance to grow up, to learn, to function, to work, and to have a decent life. This bill first addresses the most pressing need in the fight against crime. There simply are not enough police officers on the beat. The plan is designed to make the major downpayment on the pledge that I made in the campaign to put 100,000 police officers on the street. Thirty years ago there were three police officers for every violent crime. Today the ratio is reversed -- three crimes for every police officer. Like so many of the best ideas, community policing was spawned in the laboratories of experimentation on the streets of our cities and towns. Then Commissioner Lee Brown of New York, now my drug director, sent some 3,000 additional police officers onto the streets of New York City, launching community policing in every precinct. Then, shortly thereafter for the first time in 36 years, crime rates went down in every major category. It's worked from Boston to St. Louis, to Los Angeles. The crime bill that will be introduced next month will include $3.4 billion to fund up to 50,000 new police officers to walk the beat. It will also create a police corps to give young people money for college, train them in community policing, and ask them to return to their communities to serve as police officers in return for their education. This will add to the numerous community policing initiatives we have already undertaken. For example, earlier this year I signed a jobs bill that will make $150 million available right away to hire or rehire police officers. And I'm happy to report that the Labor Department will allocate $10 million to retrain newly discharged troops from the United States Armed Forces to become police officers. After defending our freedom abroad, they'll be given a chance to do so at home. Second, we must end the insanity of being able to buy or sell a handgun more easily than obtaining a driver's license. The Brady bill, which requires a waiting period before the purchase of a handgun, is simply common sense. I have said so before Congress and before the American people. It is long past time to pass it. If the Congress will pass it, I will sign it. I believe now that Congress will pass it. There is no conceivable excuse to delay this action one more day. (Applause.) The effort to keep handguns out of the hands of criminals cannot and should not wait for the passage of this legislation. Today I will sign two presidential directives that fight gun violence. I am ordering that the rules governing gun dealers be reviewed to make sure that only legitimate gun dealers are in the business of selling guns. And I am ordering the Treasury Department to take the necessary action to suspend the importation of foreign-made assault pistols, which have become the weapons of choice for many gangs and drug dealers. Too many weapons of war are making their way onto our streets and turning our streets into war zones. Let me also say that this effort against crime will not be complete if we do not eliminate assault weapons from our street. No other nation would tolerate roving gangs stalking the streets better armed than the police officers of a country. Why do we do it? We shouldn't and we ought to stop it. (Applause.) Finally, if we are to take back the streets of America from the gangs and the drug dealers, we must do what has not been done before. We must actually enact a crime bill. This legislation will be introduced by Chairman Biden and Brooks, and it will build upon a lot of good ideas from around the country, including one I worked hard on when I was governor, community boot camps for young offenders. Boot camps which give young people the discipline, the training, the treatment they need for a second chance to build a good life. When it comes to hardened, violent criminals, society has the right to impose the most severe penalties but I believe we should give young people a chance to make it. As I said during the campaign and as I said during my tenure as a governor, I support capital punishment. This legislation will reform procedures by limiting death-row inmates to a single habeas corpus appeal within a six-month time limit but also guaranteeing them a higher standard of legal representation than many have had in the past. Both elements are important if this is to be genuine reform. And it will provide the death penalty for some federal offenses including killing a federal law enforcement officer. (Applause.) As I said, this is just the beginning of our efforts to restore the rule of law on our streets. To do this we must work with thousands of law enforcement officials around the country who risk their lives every day. We must work with the mayors, with the governors, we must work with the people who deal with children before they become criminals. We must have a broadbased assault on the terrible things that are rending the fabric of life for millions of Americans. We in Washington must work together, too. For too long crime has been used as a way to divide Americans with rhetoric. It is time, and I thank the Republican members of Congress who are here today, it is time to use crime as a way to unite Americans through action. I call on the Democrats and the Republicans together to work with us and with the law enforcement community to craft the best possible crime legislation. Last week we began to break the gridlock with a new budget and an economic plan. Now we can do so again in ways that unite us as Americans. And I pledge to you my best and strongest efforts to pass this bill at the earliest possible time. There are good things in it. It will make our people safer. It will shore up our police officers, it will move America in the right direction. May I now introduce the person who has done a great deal to do all those things just in the last few months, our distinguished Attorney General Janet Reno. (Applause.) * * * * * Q with the Pope tomorrow, what you anticipate from it? THE PRESIDENT: -- I'm really very, very excited, I'm looking forward to the visit and I'm honored that he's come to the United States. Q Mr. President, there are all sorts of attempts to water down the Brady bill. Are you one of those purists that Chairman Brooks talked about or would you consider amendments to water it down? THE PRESIDENT: That bill shouldn't be amended. It's a modest bill, and I think it ought to be passed like it is. We would like to see the Senate go on and do it. I feel very strongly about it. I think -- I also associate myself with the other remarks of the Attorney General. I think it's the beginning. It's not the end of the process by any means. Q What would you like to see on handguns? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think extending the ban on imported handguns is important, which I will do today. Then Congress is debating this whole issue of assault weapons generally, broad definition -- and we'll see what we can come out with. But you know there's a bill in the House, there's a bill in the Senate and I'd like the crime bill to pass and then I'd like for that to be debated. Q Would you do the Brady bill separate? Q Yes, would you do the Brady bill separately or as part of the crime -- THE PRESIDENT: It's fine with me, whatever -- done. I would prefer to get it as quickly as possible but I think the important thing is that it be passed in a strong and clear and unambiguous form. END10:50 A.M. EDT