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Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Ninth District, IL
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Press Release 
MARCH 21, 2001
 
DEMOCRATS UNVEIL SHOCKING REPORTS ON GUNS 
FELONS AND MINORS 
PURCHASE DEADLY WEAPONS USING FAKE IDs
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a “Special Investigation Briefing,” U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Ranking Government Reform Committee member Henry Waxman (D-CA) and other Democrats heard dramatic testimony from undercover agents who revealed the ease with which individuals, including felons and minors, can buy guns using fake IDs. The briefing was entitled Lying and Buying: Using False Information to Obtain Firearms.

Undercover agents, who purchased firearms in five states using counterfeit driver’s licenses, fictitious identifications, and bogus paperwork, gave testimony to the problem of easy access to guns.   At the briefing, the agents from the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report that found that individuals are able to use false identification to purchase guns and bypass background checks mandated by the Brady Act for guns manufactured after 1898. During the course of their investigation, the agents purchased a total of seven firearms and ammunition in Virginia, West Virginia, Montana, New Mexico, and Arizona.  Undercover agents also purchased an “antique’ gun in perfect working condition.  To purchase a weapon in this category, an individual is not subject to a background check.  In a video, the agents demonstrated the deadly force of the antique weapon.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) requires a very limited inquiry into the background of a perspective gun purchaser.  Therefore anyone, including criminals and minors, can easily bypass the system by presenting false or fictitious personal information when purchasing a deadly weapon.   

“I congratulate Congressman Waxman for requesting the GAO report and for bringing this very serious issue to the attention of Congress.   We must take immediate steps to strengthen the current system and ensure that background checks truly keep guns out of the hands of criminals and children,” said Schakowsky, who supports closing this false identity loophole, as well as requiring mandatory backgrounds checks at gun shows and full funding of enforcement efforts. 

“Not long ago, a fake ID in the hands of a teenager maybe meant a case of beer.  Now, a fake ID can just as easily mean a 9mm or a semiautomatic weapon,” Schakowsky added, pointing to a 16-year-old who used a false identity to purchase a 9mm handgun, which he later used to shoot a police recruit.

The minority staff of the Special Investigation Division of the Government Reform Committee also prepared a report released at the hearing.  The report investigated specific instances of the use of false identification to purchase weapons.  The report found that a felon was able to purchase dozens of semiautomatic pistols in an interstate gun running ring for drug dealers by using false driver licenses.   In another example, a parolee used false identification to purchase a gun he later used to kill another individual.

 
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