Senator Boxer’s Trigger Lock Amendment

In a speech to the Economic Club of Detroit in May 1999, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., committed to speak on the issue of gun crimes each week that the Senate is in session. This is the 170th week he has continued to live up to his pledge; his remarks follow:

Mr. President, last month the Senate considered and passed the Boxer Trigger Lock Amendment by a 70-27 vote. Senator Boxer’s amendment would require that all handguns sold by a dealer come with a child safety device, such as a lock, a lock box, or technology built into the gun itself. Further, it would direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to develop standards for child safety devices. The need for this legislation is clear, and I supported its passage. According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, each year teenagers and children are involved in more than 10,000 accidental shootings in which close to 800 people die. Further, about 1,500 children age 14 and under are treated in hospital emergency rooms for unintentional firearm injuries. About 38 percent of them have injuries severe enough to require hospitalization.

In addition to accidental shootings, according to the Brady Campaign, every year 1,300 children use firearms to commit suicide. Unlike suicide attempts using other methods, suicide attempts with guns are nearly always fatal. These children are given no second chance.

It does not have to be this way. If gun manufacturers put locking or other safety mechanisms on guns, or dealers sold handguns with safety devices, many shootings could be avoided, and fewer children would die each year.

The gun industry immunity legislation, to which Senator Boxer’s amendment was attached, would have provided unprecedented protection from liability to gun manufacturers and dealers, even in cases where their own gross negligence or recklessness led to someone being injured or killed. I opposed the immunity bill and was pleased that it failed to pass the Senate. However, Senator Boxer’s Trigger Lock Amendment passed with bipartisan support. Given that, I hope the Senate takes up and passes that legislation this year.