Clinton Calls Gun Control Law a Success

The Brady law has stopped felons, fugitives and drug addicts from buying 242,000 handguns since it took effect in 1994, 69,000 of them in 1997 alone, the Justice Department said Sunday.

President Clinton applauded the success of the law in keeping guns out of the wrong hands, but he said the law should be expanded to bar violent juveniles from owning guns for life.

“By keeping guns out of the hands of criminals--and putting more police in our communities--we have helped cut the crime rate to its lowest point in a generation,” Clinton said in a statement. He added that the survey proves background checks are working.

Of 2.6 million handgun applications, the Justice Department said 2.7% were rejected in 1997.

Sixty-two percent of buyers rejected had been convicted of a felony or were under felony indictment. Domestic violence misdemeanor convictions accounted for more than 9% of rejections; domestic violence protection orders, 2%.

The FBI received 3.9 million inquiries in 1997 to its National Crime Information Center about people applying to carry or purchase a firearm, according to the report.

From the Brady law’s inception through the end of 1997, more than 10 million applications have been processed, the Justice Department said.

Starting in November, background checks will be required for all firearms--not just handguns--purchased from federally licensed dealers.

According to statistics compiled by Handgun Control, the United States has the highest rate of gun-related violence in the developed world, with 9,390 handgun deaths in 1996, compared with 211 in Germany, 30 in Britain and 15 in Japan.