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STATEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO

In the last 48 hours, this nation witnessed the terrible and tragic shootings at the Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles. Then, the nation learned of the murder of a U.S. Postal Service carrier who is a Filipino in a nearby neighborhood.

"The Los Angeles Police Department, District Attorney Gil Garcetti in Los Angeles, the FBI, the ATF, and the Postal Service and the U.S. Attorney are working together in the investigations of these outrageous acts. Last night, a federal criminal complaint was filed against Buford O. Furrow charging him with murder of an employee of the U.S. Postal Service and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Further comments will be made shortly in L.A. concerning the shootings at the Community Center.

"Although the investigations are still underway, these shootings appear to have been motivated by hate. Hate crimes represent an attack not just on the individual victims but also on the victims' communities. They tear at the very fabric of peoples' lives.

"But, the victims, their families and their communities, do not stand alone. We stand with them.

"In these next days, I ask you to reach out to the Jewish and Asian communities and to others who have been the victims of hate. Let us stand as one nation, united in respect for each other and united against threats to anyone of us.

"Eliminating hate crimes and eliminating bigotry and bitterness are among this nation's most important, and most enduring, challenges. They are a challenge for the entire nation and each community: for our schools, for our religious institutions, for our civic organizations and for each one of us as individuals. We must come all together to build communities that are safer, stronger and more tolerant.

"In less than six months we will begin a new century. We must decide now, as a nation, whether we are going to allow our culture of violence to continue on into the next millennium, or whether we are going start into the new era with a commitment to tolerance and to peaceful resolution of our disputes and our disagreements.

"And if we all agree that we do not want our children to live in a society where shootings at a school or a church are commonplace, and crimes committed against individuals because of their color or religion are just another story in the newspaper, then we must act now.

"We must do more to teach our children tolerance, and make sure that they learn to accept all people regardless of their race, religion, nationality or sexual orientation. We must pass stronger hate crime legislation that will enhance the federal government's ability to prosecute -- and to help states prosecute -- those who commit crimes because of their prejudice.

"Finally, we must do more to keep dangerous firearms out of the hands of criminals, children and others who should not have them. For four months, since the tragedy in Littleton, Colorado, the Administration and the Congress have debated over how to reform our gun laws.

"Four months, and yet we have not been able to pass gun safety measures that even most gun owners support.

"Four months, and anyone can still walk into a gun show and buy a high-powered, dangerous weapon without even having to establish their identity.

"Next month, the House and Senate will return to Washington and take up the task of reconciling the House and Senate Juvenile Justice bills. They will have the opportunity to pass the sensible, reasonable gun safety measures contained in the Senate bill, and I urge them to do so.

"But we must acknowledge that there is a need to do even more. We are never going to get a serious grip on gun violence in this country until we adopt comprehensive measures to keep guns away from those who should not have them. We need measures that include extending the Brady checks to violent juvenile offenders, cooling off periods, laws which address child safety and child access prevention, limits on how many handguns someone can buy in a month, and I believe we must seriously explore the possibility of requiring the licensing of all handguns. It is common sense, pure common sense, to ensure that guns are only in the hands of those who know how to safely and lawfully use them and have the capacity and willingness to do so.

"This is a critical time in our nation's history. We can go into the next century with a realistic prospect of ending the culture of violence in this country. It is critical that we do so now."

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