Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the city of Detroit is grieving over the loss of Cody High School sophomore Darryl Towns, who was fatally shot just days before his sixteenth birthday. Darryl was murdered in his own backyard over a minor dispute that eventually turned into a major tragedy. What started off as a fist fight between life long friends ended up in murder: three fatal shots with a semiautomatic pistol. Now, Darryl's community is left in shock as they grieve over the "foolish" and "senseless" death of their friend, known among many as a "respectful," "responsible" young man. Friends and parents are forced to ask the troubling question: If a person like Darryl, who stayed out of trouble, isn't safe from gun violence, who among our teens is safe? Unfortunately, there is no one who can answer that question or predict the future. Yet, common sense tells us that the widespread proliferation of guns will only result in additional tragedies like Darryl's. I urge my colleagues to take up a meaningful debate on gun safety and end the easy access to weapons that result in the destruction of so many young lives. I'd like to submit in the Record a letter printed in the Detroit Free Press written to Darryl's mother, Annette Towns, expressing sympathy over such a difficult loss. -30- Mothers: Teach sons about love, guns
September 15, 1999 Darryl Towns, 15, died senselessly and tragically on Sept. 9 ("Slaying questioned: One teen in custody is a childhood friend," Sept. 11). Many of us knew of him only as "the baby." Most of us knew him through the stories from a mother's heart -- of trials and tribulations, and the joys and challenges of trying to raise a son up right. Some of us knew only his voice, as it changed over the years from that of a soft-spoken boy to that of a man, calling his mom every evening at work, just to check in. His mama was always saying with a glitter of pride in her eye: "He's such a good and responsible boy." Fifteen years of love and dedication were ripped away in an instant by a senseless act, so very irreversible. For every mother of every son, teach your sons the magnitude of a mother's love, and how guns lead to the destruction of so many lives -- but none so insurmountable as that of a mother's anguish at the loss of her son. Guns have no place in untrained hands -- your hands or my hands -- let alone in the emotionally charged squabbles of teenaged boys. The only ones powerful enough to stop it are the young men themselves -- young men like Darryl, who stood apart from some of his peers. He didn't carry a gun. He tried to do what was right. If his death could change the heart of just one boy, then he would not have died in vain. To Annette, his Mother: We, your friends at work, want to thank you for sharing a part of your dear son with us through your eyes. To Darryl, forever "Mama's Baby": We dedicate you to a better, safer place in the loving arms of your Creator. Kim Kingston Amherstburg, Ontario On behalf of Ms. Towns' many friends and colleagues at her place of employment
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