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STATEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO

"Yesterday the United States Senate missed an historic opportunity to make this country safer. Not only did they reject an amendment that would have extended the Brady Law to cover gun shows, the Senate actually weakened one of the most effective gun laws we have ever had.

"The amendment the Senate did pass - the Craig Amendment - may be disguised as gun show legislation, but make no mistake - it will not prevent criminals and children from buying deadly weapons at gun shows. Instead, it will jeopardize our ability to continue the background checks we currently do.

"I am stunned that less than one month after the worst school shooting in our nation's history, the Senate has decided to make it easier for felons, fugitives and other prohibited purchasers to buy guns.

"We know that guns do not cause violent behavior, but we also know that since we have made it harder for criminals and other prohibited persons to get guns, violent crime has gone down.

"Since the passage of the Brady Law, over a quarter of a million felons, fugitives and other people who should not have guns have been stopped from buying them. And violent crimes committed with firearms have dropped by 27%.

"But still, even the Brady Law has a loophole that criminals have been exploiting -- the gun show loophole. We want to close this loophole. It allows some merchants at gun shows to sell guns to whomever they choose without background checks, and without consequences if they sell to violent criminals.

"The vast majority of Americans favor background checks at gun shows - including organizations involved in gun shows like the National Alliance of Stocking Gun Dealers. But the NRA and others in the gun lobby are trying to keep this loophole -- and make it bigger.

"The NRA opposed the Brady Law, conjuring up all kinds of fears about how it would be bad for law-abiding gun buyers, but they were wrong. While the law has prevented more than 250,000 felons and others who should not have guns from getting them, law-abiding hunters and sportsmen have not suffered as a result.

"The American people know that if we are serious about reducing gun violence and stopping children and criminals from gaining access to deadly weapons we must enact common sense gun laws like those contained in the President's legislation. We have been successful with what we have done. We must not take backward steps, we must move forward.

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