> Clinton Backs $10M for Gun Research
>
> . c The Associated Press
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) – President Clinton’s new budget will include $10
million
> for research into how to prevent guns from being fired by anyone but
their
> owners, a top White House aide said Sunday.
>
> White House Chief of Staff John Podesta said the National Institute of
> Justice would help fund research and development of so-called smart
gun
> technology, now being developed by several handgun manufacturers.
>
> Podesta said the Clinton administration hoped to work with the gun
makers
> on developing the technology, which would use fingerprints, radio
waves or
> other ways to ensure that a weapon would fire only when used by its
owner.
>
> “We’ve had some discussions with them about this, about how we can
improve
> the technology so that, again, only a lawful owner can use the gun,”
> Podesta said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “And if that’s true, what
you
> can prevent is a police officer being disarmed by a felon and having
the
> gun used against the police officer. But I think almost most
importantly,
> it’ll prevent children from being able to get access to guns and use
them.”
>
> The $10 million would be in Clinton’s proposed budget for the fiscal
year
> beginning Oct. 1. Clinton had proposed $4 million for smart-gun
research in
> the current year’s budget, but Congress rejected his request,
according to
> the White House.
>
> Podesta announced the smart-gun initiative as he also urged Congress
to
> pass gun control legislation. Following the shootings at Columbine
High
> School in Colorado, House and Senate negotiators failed to agree on a
> juvenile crime bill that contained gun control measures, including
> background checks of purchasers at gun shows.
>
> “Given the Congress that we have in front of us, it’s going to be a
very
> difficult chore to get that passed through this Congress,” Podesta
said.
> “But we are going to press ahead. With members going home and
listening to
> their constituencies, we still have a good chance of getting the
> common-sense gun legislation that is before Congress passed into law
this
> year.”
> –