Res. No. 1229 Title Resolution calling upon the U.S. Congress to enact meaningful gun control legislation. Body By The Speaker (Council Member Vallone) and Council Members Carrion, Dear, Eisland, Espada, Freed, Lopez, Michels, Moskowitz, Perkins, Pinkett, Reed, Rodriguez; also Council Members Cruz, Fisher, Harrison, Koslowitz, Leffler, McCaffrey, Nelson, O'Donovan, Povman, Quinn, Robinson, Robles, Wooten and Clarke Whereas, Gun violence is a serious concern in all American cities, including New York City; and Whereas, According to ABC News, guns kill 34,000 Americans every year, 393 senior citizens every months and 13 children every day; and Whereas, According to the Fiscal 1999 Mayor's Management Report, there were 2, 118 reported shooting victims in New York City in Fiscal 1998 and 2,009 reported shooting victims in Fiscal 1999; and Whereas, Recent incidents involving guns, such as the July 4, 1999 killings in the Midwest by Benjamin Smith, the August 1999 shootings at a Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles by Buford Furrow, and the recent tragic death of a first grader in Michigan, indicate the extent of the gun problem in the United States; and Whereas, These tragic incidents reinforce the critical need for Congress to adopt proposals, such as those advocated by the American Jewish Congress and other groups, which include requiring all gun buyers to pass a U.S. Justice Department background check before a gun buyer can take possession of a firearm from a gun dealer; requiring all gun buyers to be licensed by an appropriate law enforcement agency before obtaining a firearm from a gun dealer; requiring all gun dealers to register their firearms with an appropriate governmental body in order to allow law enforcement agencies to identify the owner of a weapon suspected of being used in a crime; and requiring all gun manufacturers to install safety devices that insure against accidental or inadvertent firing; and Whereas, The City Council has continually taken the lead in the area of gun control legislation by passing meaningful local laws such as the trigger locks bill, which helps to protect our children from gun violence; and Whereas, The U.S. Congress failed to enact meaningful gun control legislation last year and is not moving quickly on such legislation this year; and Whereas, President Clinton has called on lawmakers to break the eight-month deadlock and pass a sensible bill; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the U.S. Congress to enact meaningful gun control legislation. LS#2797