Clinton Calls for Gun Restrictions

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Clinton Calls for Gun Restrictions WASHINGTON (AP) -- Looking to break a stalemate over gun control legislation, President Clinton is publicizing some troubling statistics about youths and firearms at a meeting with lawmakers today.

Clinton was citing Justice Department statistics showing that the number of juveniles killed with a firearm increased sharply between 1987 and 1993, while other types of homicide remained constant.

Clinton last week, lamenting that 13 children are killed by guns every day in America, said he would meet with congressional leaders to ''break the logjam'' on legislation to require gun safety locks.

Clinton is seeking legislation that would require safety locks on guns, ban the import of large-capacity ammunition clips and require background checks before buying a weapon at gun shows. The House and Senate have passed separate versions of the bill but have not come together on a compromise.

The president also is proposing a system of photo IDs for gun owners.

''The single most important step we can take to reduce the juvenile crime rate is to keep guns out of the hands of juveniles,'' Bruce Reed, Clinton's domestic policy adviser, said on the eve of today's White House meeting.

The statistics, culled from the Juvenile Offenders and Victims 1999 national Report, showed that the proportion of juveniles killed with a firearm peaked at 61 percent in 1993. Since then, the proportion has declined to 56 percent in 1997.

The study also found that since 1980, one in four murders of juveniles involved a juvenile offender. Nearly 38,000 juveniles were murdered between 1980 and 1997.

In the wake of the Columbine High School massacre, the House and Senate passed differing bills designed to keep guns out of the hands of juveniles and criminals. But lawmakers have been unable to reach a compromise. Conferees last met in August.

A key stumbling block has been changing an existing law that allows people who purchase firearms at gun shows to bypass a system of background checks.

The Senate version calls for a three-day waiting period, equal to the waiting period imposed on people who purchase firearms at stores. The House would require checks be completed in 24 hours.

Reed said the administration supported the Senate version and would be unwilling to compromise on that point. He said most checks are completed within hours and that the extra time was needed in cases where closer scrutiny was required.

After a six-year-old was shot to death by a fellow first grader in Michigan last week, Clinton asked the top Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate Judiciary committees to discuss the standoff.

Also last week, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, their committees' ranking Democrats, sent a letter to the judiciary committee chairmen, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois, urging action.

''We are baffled that the Senate-passed gun safety measures, measures that represent an important first step in stopping this gun violence epidemic, continue to lay dormant in a juvenile justice conference that has not met since early August,'' they wrote.

Republicans have accused Democrats of thwarting compromise for political gain.