Letter to Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich on Legislation To Prohibit Possession of Firearms by Domestic Violence Offenders

Dear Mr. Speaker:

I am pleased that you have now joined me in supporting legislation to prohibit domestic violence offenders from obtaining firearms. No one who has committed an act of domestic violence against a spouse or child should be able to possess a firearm.

As you know, Senator Lautenberg and Representative Torricelli have introduced legislation that would achieve this objective. The Senate passed the Lautenberg bill for the second time last week by an overwhelming and bipartisan vote of 97-2. It is now time for the House to act on the Torricelli bill and join the Senate in supporting this bipartisan effort.

There were 88,500 incidents of domestic violence where a firearm was present in 1994. I signed the Brady Law in 1993 and to date it has prevented over 60,000 felons, fugitives and others from buying handguns. My 1994 Crime Bill included the historic Violence Against Women Act, which made it a crime for stalkers and harassers under restraining orders to carry a gun. That provision is beginning to take hold—in Kentucky alone, over 300 stalkers and harassers were prohibited from buying firearms in one year. The legislation that you now support will build upon these important provisions.

I welcome your support and determination to complete this job. Protecting innocent women and children from deadly domestic violence is too important to let anything stand in the way. Bringing this bill to a vote in the House is an important step. But we must see it through to the end. Send it to me for my signature without further delay before Congress adjourns so that keeping guns out of the hands of all domestic violence offenders becomes the law of the land.

Sincerely,

BILL CLINTON