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2000 Democratic National Convention Platform Hearing Testimony by Mary Leigh Blek, President, Million Mom March July 6, 2000

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the day we buried our twenty-one year old son, Matthew Blek. Six years ago, three fifteen-year-olds attempted to rob Matt wielding a Saturday Night Special handgun-the same type of handgun used to assassinate Robert Kennedy in 1968. This is at the heart of why I am before you today.

On Mother?s Day we all witnessed an historic event. The Million Mom March brought 750,000 mothers and their families to our nation?s Mall in Washington, DC and tens of thousands more rallied and marched in over 70 communities across our nation. With one voice our message was clear: We want Congress to enact sensible gun laws to keep our kids safe! We want sensible gun laws now! The sad statistic that our United State?s firearm death rate for our children
under the age of 15 is twelve times higher than for 25 other industrialized nations, combined, is no longer going to be tolerated! We are a problem-solving nation and there are solutions to this epidemic of gun trauma. Each day that there is no action on gun regulation in this country, we lose 12 more children and young people under the age of 19 years.
Enough!

The Million Mom March is marching forward. We have mobilized into well over 200 countywide chapters in 43 states to keep our goals alive for responsible and enforceable common sense gun laws. I come before you today as a life-long Republican. The policies that I am about to propose for your consideration are not Republican or Democratic policies, but rather, common sense laws that will help ensure the safety, indeed the very lives, of our loved ones. The safety of our communities should and must be the number one priority of our government.

The Million Mom March promotes the following national policy priorities:

Licensing of Handgun Owners: Current federal law allows nearly any adult without a felony conviction to buy a handgun without ever having touched one before. A responsible licensing law would require handgun buyers to pass a safety-training course covering the handling, use, storage and risks of handguns.

Registration of Handguns: Under current federal law, we have no way of knowing what happens to a handgun after a consumer purchases it. This lack of oversight promotes illegal gun trafficking, making it easy for felons, kids or other prohibited purchasers to get handguns. A responsible registration system would require all handgun owners to register their handguns, to renew the registration periodically, and to be held accountable when handguns registered to them cause injury or death.

Product Safety Standards: Guns are the only consumer products sold in America that are completely exempt from any safety-related regulation. Setting and enforcing gun safety standards can prevent many gun injuries and deaths. We know that with consumer product safety standards in place that a poorly made Saturday Night Special, commonly referred to as a junk gun, would no longer be produced in our country.

Closing the ?Gun Show Loophole?: Anyone buying a gun from a licensed gun dealer must pass a background check to make sure that he is not a prohibited purchaser. But at thousands of gun shows every year, and across backyard fences every day, anyone can buy a gun, no questions asked. Closing this gaping loophole by requiring every gun buyer to pass a thorough background check would help make sure that people who shouldn?t have guns can?t get them.

One-Gun-A-Month: Current law allows gun buyers to buy as many guns at a time as they please. This promotes illegal gun trafficking, making it easier for felons and kids to get guns on the street. Limiting gun buyers to no more than one gun a month, would greatly reduce gun trafficking. I am reminded by Matthew?s death, ?How many adult hands did that gun pass through before reaching that young teen?s hands??

I thank you for the opportunity to bring these common sense gun policies to you for consideration for the Democratic Platform. We have choices to make in this nation. My son Matthew is but one of more than one million persons killed since the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. As President of the Million Mom March, and as Matthew?s mother, I am joining our voices with the majority of Americans, in calling upon our leadership to enact common sense gun laws. Clearly, on Mother?s Day 2000, a new movement was born. The Million Mom March will continue until no mother has to bury a child due to a senseless and preventable gun
death!