Children's Defense Fund

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May 6, 2004  
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AMERICA'S SILENT TRAGEDY: CDF'S ANNUAL GUN REPORT SHOWS
NEEDLESS LOSS OF YOUNG LIVES TO GUN VIOLENCE

CDF Urges Bush Administration and
Congress to Renew the Assault Weapons Ban

Washington, D.C. - The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) today released its annual report, "Protect Children Instead of Guns 2004," detailing gun deaths among children and teenagers throughout the country. As the threat of gun violence grows, the report helps show why the Bush Administration and Congress should renew the ten-year-old Assault Weapons Ban. If the ban, which expires on September 13, 2004, is not renewed, the sale and possession of military-style, semi-automatic assault weapons would be legal in the United States for the first time since 1994.

Children and teens continue to die from gun violence in America at unprecedented levels in comparison to the rest of the industrialized world. Using the most recent annual data, CDF's report shows that 2,911 children and teens die from gun violence each year—one child every three hours. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the rate of firearm deaths among children under age 15 is almost 12 times higher in the United States than in 25 other industrialized countries combined. Thanks in part to the Assault Weapons Ban, gun deaths among children and teens has decreased since 1994.

Calling for a renewal on the ban, thousands of parents, children, educators, community and faith leaders, and others will converge upon the Mall in our nation's Capital for the Million Mom March on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 9th.

"The Million Mom March is once again sounding the alarm. It is an absolute outrage that eight children are dying every day from senseless gun violence," said Marian Wright Edelman, president and founder of CDF. "Assault weapons have no place on the streets with our children. We call upon President Bush and the Congress to act now. If the ban is not renewed by September, semi-automatic assault weapons will return to the streets of our cities and towns at the same time as our children return to their classrooms. That is not acceptable."

As recently as February 23, 2004, a spokesperson for President Bush reiterated the President's support for the extension of the Assault Weapons Ban. On March 2, 2004, the U.S. Senate voted to renew the ban, which was blocked by special interest lobbying by the National Rifle Association (NRA). According to a recent survey commissioned by the Consumer Federation of America, 63 percent of Americans, including a majority of gun owners, favor strengthening the current Assault Weapons Ban to prevent the gun industry from manufacturing commercial assault weapons.

The U.S. Senate also voted to close a major loophole in the federal law requiring background checks of gun purchasers at gun shows, again scuttled by the NRA. Legislation requiring child-proof trigger locks on guns met the same fate in the Senate—despite the President's statement that he would sign a bill mandating trigger locks with the sale of guns.

"The time for political gamesmanship is over," said Edelman. "Common-sense gun laws save lives and pose no threat to responsible and legal gun ownership. It would be reprehensible for our elected leaders to sit idly by when measures could be taken to make America safer."

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The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick, into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. We have never taken government funds.

 

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