George W. Bush on Families & Children
: Oct 11, 2000 Solution to Columbine: Love your neighbor like yourself
BUSH: [Gore] says we ought to have gun-free schools. Everybody believes that. I’m sure every state in the union’s got them. You can’t carry a gun into a school. And there ought to be a consequence when you do carry a gun into a school. But Columbine
spoke to a larger issue and it’s really a matter of culture, it’s a culture that somewhere along the line we’ve begun to disrespect life. Where a child can walk in and have their heart turn dark as a result of being on the Internet and decide to take
somebody else’s life. Gun laws are important, no question about it. But so is loving children and character education classes and faith-based programs being a part of afterschool programs. This society has got to do a better job of teaching
children right from wrong. And we can enforce law, but there’s a larger law: Love your neighbor like you’d like to be loved yourself. And that’s where our society must head if we’re going to be a peaceful and prosperous society.
Click for George W. Bush on other issues.
Source: Presidential Debate at Wake Forest University
Joseph Lieberman on Families & Children
: Sep 13, 2000 Parents are losing children to culture’s violence
Lieberman expressed dismay at “a culture of carnage” fostered by the industry. Parents feel “locked in a losing competition with the culture to raise our children.” The Columbine
High School shootings in Colorado illustrates that the media violence children see “has become part of a toxic mix that has actually now turned some of them into killers.”
Click for Joseph Lieberman on other issues.
Source: AP Story, NY Times
Harry Browne on Crime
: Sep 9, 2000 Crime Bill gives govt more power; won’t stop teen violence
After the Columbine High School massacre, the House of Representatives passed the “Juvenile Crime Bill”-supposedly to reduce teenage violence.
Conservatives supported the bill because they didn’t notice its gun-control provisions, and probably because
they didn’t want to appear insensitive in the midst of a supposed crisis.
Liberals supported the bill because they didn’t notice that it gave the government more power to use warrantless wiretaps, allowed police to intercept messages going to your
pager, promoted drug-testing of all school children, and gave increased immunity to police who might commit violent crimes against you.
As usual, the politicians had practically no idea what they were voting on.
Not only is federal law enforcement
dangerous, it is very expensive. As with any other kind of bill, the politicians see anti-crime bills as opportunities to enact unrelated programs for their political allies.
Click for Harry Browne on other issues.
Source: The Great Libertarian Offer, p.186
Al Gore on Gun Control
: Apr 20, 2000 Nationally mandated, state-run system of photo licensing
Noting that more than one of the guns used at Columbine was purchased at a gun show, Gore stressed the need to close the gun show loophole that allows purchasers to avoid background checks when buying
guns at gun shows. Gore also called for requiring child-safety locks on handguns; banning junk guns and assault weapons; and requiring a nationally mandated, state-run system of photo licensing and a full background check for all new handgun purchases.
Click for Al Gore on other issues.
Source: Press Release, Fort Lee, NJ
George W. Bush on Gun Control
: Apr 20, 2000 Avoid Columbine via gun control, values & character ed
Saying America is “still wrestling with the lessons of Columbine,” Bush today called for tougher enforcement of gun laws and a greater emphasis on character education as the way to promote school safety. “Today is the sad anniversary of a terrible
tragedy-a tragedy that shattered our sense of safety and security-a tragedy that hit home for every parent and every child and every school in America,” Bush said. “A year later, America is still wrestling with the lessons of Columbine,” Bush
continued. “Strict enforcement of tough laws is important. But ultimately, the safety of our children depends on more than laws. It depends on the values we teach them and the kind of culture we create and condone.”
Governor Bush has proposed
a series of proposals to reduce school violence in his campaign, including:
Promoting character education in public schools.
Enforcing gun laws and holding states & schools accountable for keeping students safe.
Click for George W. Bush on other issues.
Source: Press Release, Temple TX
Al Gore on Families & Children
: Apr 20, 2000 Solution is gun control, V-chips, and character education
Marking the one-year anniversary of the Columbine tragedy, Al Gore today stressed the need to address the challenge of school violence “from every angle,” and discussed a variety of approaches to prevent future tragedies. “We still search for the meaning
that lies behind this tragedy,” Gore said. “But as I said at Columbine just days after the shootings, all of us must change our lives to honor these children. For every one of us is responsible for the children of our culture.”
Specifically,
Gore called for:
Common sense measures to keep guns away from children: safety locks & background checks.
Giving parents tools to protect children from violence: V-chips and Internet filters.
An increased focus on discipline and character
education.
Stressing the need to identify the early warning signs of trouble, Gore called for making counseling more available, improving discipline and expanding character education in schools.
Click for Al Gore on other issues.
Source: Press Release, Fort Lee, NJ
Joseph Lieberman on Gun Control
: Apr 14, 2000 Safe havens: Ban guns in schools and churches
On the eve of the anniversary of the Columbine killings, it is time to step back and think about how we can restore our common sense of security. The Columbine tragedy and others like it should also be enough to cause all of us to draw some lines around
those spaces where guns have no place, and thus begin to reclaim the safe havens in our communities.
[We should prohibit] firearms in schools, scholastic settings, and places of worship. Saturday Night Specials do not belong in Sunday School classes
or any other place where families are learning, playing or praying. Every community is entitled to at least a few sites of sanctuary, where they can honor their families and their God without fearing for their safety or their lives. But the reality is
that at least 22 states permit gunowners to carry concealed weapons in places of worship, and many allow them at school events off campus.
Click for Joseph Lieberman on other issues.
Source: Senate statement, “Safe Havens”
Bill Bradley on Gun Control
: Mar 1, 2000 Beating the NRA must come from concerted leadership
BRADLEY. We make a mistake when we take a tragic incident and we look at that one individual case [instead of] a much broader case. Everybody was struck by Columbine. Why? Because we saw our own kids, they looked like our kids, we thought. But 13 kids
are killed every day in America with a gun and 800,000 kids took a gun to school last year. Now that is not going to change unless there’s concerted leadership from the national government that’s willing to marshal public opinion to overcome the vested
interest, the special interest that’s embodied in the NRA.
GORE: I agree with that. I was a co-sponsor of the Brady Law. I cast the tie-breaking vote to close the so-called gun show loophole. The NRA has targeted me as a result.
We have got to take them on strongly and pass new gun control legislation-not aimed at hunters and sportsmen, but at these handguns that are causing so much distress in our country.
Click for Bill Bradley on other issues.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Al Gore on Gun Control
: Mar 1, 2000 Take on the NRA with presidential leadership
BRADLEY. We make a mistake when we take a tragic incident and we look at that one individual case [instead of] a much broader case. Everybody was struck by Columbine. Why? Because we saw our own kids, they looked like our kids, we thought. But 13 kids
are killed every day in America with a gun and 800,000 kids took a gun to school last year. Now that is not going to change unless there’s concerted leadership from the national government that’s willing to marshal public opinion to overcome the vested
interest, the special interest that’s embodied in the NRA.
GORE: I agree with that. I was a co-sponsor of the Brady Law. I cast the tie-breaking vote to close the so-called gun show loophole. The NRA has targeted me as a result.
We have got to take them on strongly and pass new gun control legislation-not aimed at hunters and sportsmen, but at these handguns that are causing so much distress in our country.
Click for Al Gore on other issues.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Gary Bauer on Education
: Jan 16, 2000 Allow Ten Commandments in schools & disallow Nazi salutes
The Columbine High School killers were giving each other the Nazi salute [every day]. Nobody said anything to them. But if a teacher at Columbine had hung up the Ten Commandments in her classroom, she would have been told take them down or lose your job.
We’ve got things upside down in this country. When I’m president they’ll be no more Nazi salutes in the schools. And it’ll be OK to hang the Ten Commandments up again, not only there, but in the Oval Office.
Click for Gary Bauer on other issues.
Source: GOP Debate in Johnston, Iowa
Al Gore on Families & Children
: Dec 18, 1999 We need more self-restraint in the media
Q: Your comments on the release of the Columbine High School videotapes. A: [Among other things], we need more self-restraint in the media. You know, 20,000 murders viewed by the average child by the time of high school graduation is just ridiculous.
You saw in those videotapes how the two perpetrators of that violence made reference to a particular violent video game and made other references to popular culture. That’s not to blame popular culture. But I think that some kids are vulnerable to having
seeds planted that bear a bitter fruit. I think we need more psychologists and guidance counselors, more help for schools to take the steps that they think will be most effective in their school districts. And finally, we also need to address
the deeper problems of giving kids a sense that their lives have meaning and purpose, and that means committing ourselves to their future, modernizing their schools, reducing the size of the classrooms.
Click for Al Gore on other issues.
Source: Town Hall Meeting, Nashua NH
Joseph Lieberman on Families & Children
: Dec 14, 1999 Youth Violence Commission to investigate causes of violence
In light of the release of the video tapes made by the two teenage gunmen of the Columbine High School killings, Senators McCain and Lieberman resolved to pass a bill to create a commission to examine the causes of youth violence. “These tapes may be the
most powerful evidence yet of just how complicated this problem is, of how difficult it is to discern exactly what is in this toxic mix that is turning kids into killers,” Lieberman said. “And they should remind us of just how critical it is to get past
the politics and the safe assumptions and start a serious, thorough, and objective examination of these horrific massacres. The American people are desperate for answers, to understand what once seemed unthinkable.“
The Youth Violence Commission
would be composed of religious leaders, and experts in education, family psychology, law enforcement and parenting. Its mandate would be to produce a comprehensive understanding of what forces are turning our children into killers.
Click for Joseph Lieberman on other issues.
Source: Press release, “Youth Violence”
Gary Bauer on Families & Children
: Dec 13, 1999 Columbine resulted from our undermining the sanctity of life
Eric & Dylan [the Columbine shooters] violated 17 gun laws that day. The deeper question is why did two boys do to fellow human beings, what would be impossible to imagine an American child doing to cats or dogs. What did we do that so undermined
the sanctity of life, that you could raise a couple of kid with such empty hearts? Part of it is that we undermine the sanctity of life by telling our children that they’ve got a constitutional right to take innocent human life if it’s in their way.
Click for Gary Bauer on other issues.
Source: Des Moines Iowa GOP Debate
Gary Bauer on Families & Children
: Dec 7, 1999 Nazi salutes indicated problem at Columbine
At Columbine High School, Eric & Dylan came to school every day and they were giving each other the Nazi salute in the hallway. Nobody said anything to them, nobody sent them home, nobody took them to the principal’s office. But if a teacher at Columbine
had hung up the Ten Commandments, she would have been in the principal’s office the same day. So, as a start when I’m president, there won’t be any more Nazi salutes in the public schools. And it’s going to be OK to hang up the Ten Commandments again.
Click for Gary Bauer on other issues.
Source: Phoenix Arizona GOP Debate
Steve Forbes on Crime
: Nov 9, 1999 Littleton martyrs could start a spiritual revival
One of the most encouraging signs of moral & spiritual awakening occurred amidst the horror of the school shootings in Littleton. During the rampage that fateful day, one of the killers approached young Cassie Bernall, seventeen, shoved a gun in her
face, and demanded to know, “Do you believe in God?” “Yes,” she replied, and was killed. In martyring herself, I believe Cassie Bernall may very well have set into motion a spiritual revivalthat could rescue a lost and hurting generation of young people.
Click for Steve Forbes on other issues.
Source: “A New Birth of Freedom,” p. 141-2
Steve Forbes on Crime
: Nov 9, 1999 Littleton shows spiritual impoverishment behind good economy
The midday massacre at Columbine stopped America’s emotional traffic dead in its tracks. In the face of grieving parents, children, and teachers we were forced to confront the sobering reality that all is not well in our country just because the Dow
Jones Industrial Average is riding high. As a nation, we might be materially better off than we were a generation ago, but clearly we are raising a generation in which too many young people are spiritually impoverished, without a sense of right and wrong
Click for Steve Forbes on other issues.
Source: “A New Birth of Freedom,” p. 22
Pat Buchanan on Families & Children
: Sep 24, 1999 Home schooling teaches children values
It’s time we started telling the truth. [Events like the Columbine massacre are] not going to be solved by food stamps, or welfare, , or getting a new TV set. There’s something wrong in the hearts,
and so it begins at home. And the home schoolers are one of the best answers to this whole thing, where they teach children values. But we can’t give up on the public schools either.
Click for Pat Buchanan on other issues.
Source: Remarks at Home Schools Event, Washington, DC
Alan Keyes on Education
: Jul 2, 1999 Let God into schools to keep Columbine shooters out
In a statement after the Littleton, Col. school shootings, said the incident was a “reminder of the tragic consequences of the moral void that is threatening our young people.. If we would let God into our schools under normal circumstances, then we
probably wouldn’t have to see our children turn to God when faced with this kind of evil.”
Click for Alan Keyes on other issues.
Source: CNN.com
Gary Bauer on Civil Rights
: Jun 18, 1999 Posting Ten Commandments will reduce crime
Gary Bauer took partial credit for [drafting a bill to post the Ten Commandments in schools]. “I believe if more American children read the Ten Commandments and are taught what they mean, they will predictably engage in less crime,” he said, noting the
sentiment for religion in the schools after the recent student massacre in Colorado. “I went to Littleton, Colo.,” Bauer said. “What you see are little handmade signs everywhere, ‘Let our children pray,’ and ‘Bring religion back in to our schools.’”
Click for Gary Bauer on other issues.
Source: CNN AllPolitics “Mixed views”
Pat Buchanan on Gun Control
: Jun 5, 1999 Gun laws didn’t stop Littleton shootings
The gun-control lobby has long peddled the myth that gun ownership causes crime. But as we saw in Littleton, Colorado, where 19 gun and anti-explosive laws were violated in the massacre at Columbine High, additional legislation is not the answer. The
urban barbarism that has turned our streets into battlegrounds and our classrooms into killing fields will not be stopped by an assault on the Second Amendment right of American gunowners to keep and bear arms.
Click for Pat Buchanan on other issues.
Source: www.GoPatGo.org/ “Issues: Right to Keep & Bear Arms”
Hillary Clinton on Families & Children
: Jun 4, 1999 Society is responsible for alienation that causes violence
Q: Do you hold the parents accountable for the actions that their children have committed in Littleton & Springfield? A: Everyone has to be responsible for his or her own actions, so the individuals who have committed these crimes have to be held
responsible. But we have to ask ourselves, what is it that leads a young person to feel so alienated, to feel so much hatred, to have unmet needs that would push them over the brink to do this. So I think we have to hold people responsible.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: ABC’s “Good Morning America”
Pat Buchanan on Gun Control
: May 29, 1999 Columbine shootings due to Hollywood, not guns
Buchanan sees Hollywood, not easy access to weapons, as the dominant factor in the recent Colorado school shootings. “This was about evil in the human heart,” Mr. Buchanan boomed.
Click for Pat Buchanan on other issues.
Source: NY Times, p. A10, col. 1, “A Crowded Race”
John Kasich on Gun Control
: May 23, 1999 More parenting better than more gun laws
Kasich said that the better response [to the Columbine shootings] may not involve gun control. He said parents could do more to help their children feel safe if they could choose where to send their children to school. He also advocated legislation that
would allow businesses to provide more flexible working schedules, a change that he said would give parents more time at home with children. “In most homes, both parents work and nobody has the time to spend with their children anymore,” he said.
Click for John Kasich on other issues.
Source: Omaha World-Herald, “Kasich Tours Iowa”, 5/23/99
John Kasich on Gun Control
: May 23, 1999 Cool off before making new gun laws after Littleton
Although he voted for the 1994 federal ban on assault weapons, Kasich said that lawmakers should have a cooling-off period after high-profile acts of violence before trying to pass new laws. Kasich noted that the two students who killed 13 people and
themselves last month in Littleton, Colo., violated 19 existing gun laws. “There were already a bunch of laws,” Kasich said. “The kids didn’t pay attention to the laws. I don’t think new laws will solve all the problems.”
Click for John Kasich on other issues.
Source: Omaha World-Herald, “Kasich Tours Iowa”, 5/23/99
Joseph Lieberman on Crime
: May 20, 1999 Proposed commission to study sources of youth violence
Lieberman won unanimous approval to create a national commission to conduct a year-long examination of the factors contributing to the outbreak of school shootings and the larger epidemic of youth violence. The commission would study the many possible
causes behind this problem, and recommend a series of tangible steps to prevent more tragedies [like Littleton]. “This is an honest admission that we don’t have all the answers to explain why so many kids are turning into killers,” Lieberman said.
Click for Joseph Lieberman on other issues.
Source: Press Release, “Omnibus juvenile justice bill”
Dan Quayle on Gun Control
: May 19, 1999 Instant gun checks OK, but real issue is self-control
The quick fix artists are now in a frenzy over guns [due to the Littleton killings]. Certainly there are things we can do concerning guns. The instant check system works. And we need to enforce the laws on the books that deal with gun violence. But the
overriding issue isn’t really gun control, it’s self-control. A child who loves God, honors his parents, and respects his neighbors will not kill anyone. In our hearts we know that the answer to tragedies like Littleton is in changing the culture.
Click for Dan Quayle on other issues.
Source: Speech to the Commonwealth Club of California
Alan Keyes on Gun Control
: May 14, 1999 Columbine killers lacked moral development - not gun laws
The gun control mentality is that guns are in control of situations, and when we see kids like those in Columbine High School, we shouldn’t see human beings who have gone off the right moral road because their consciences and self-discipline have not
been properly developed. Instead, we should see guns in control of the situation, and then we should react against the guns. “Gun violence” should be called human violence, leaving us at least the dignity of being responsible for our own sins.
Click for Alan Keyes on other issues.
Source: WorldNetDaily “Standing on principle”
Alan Keyes on Gun Control
: May 14, 1999 Control people’s passions - not the things they use
[Gun control proponents] propose controlling the things we use, as if this will control people. Violence is not a function of the things; it’s a function of the heart. If the heart is wrong, then violence will come out of the heart as a consequence --
and if a gun isn’t handy, a machete will do. What is in control is not the thing, but the human being that allows his evil passions to control his actions, and thus lead to the awful situations we have seen from Indonesia to Littleton.
Click for Alan Keyes on other issues.
Source: WorldNetDaily “Standing on principle”
Orrin Hatch on Gun Control
: May 14, 1999 Guns should be sold with safety devices
Hatch [co-sponsored a bill] aimed at protecting children by requiring that guns be sold with a proper storage or gun safety device. “Tragedies such as the shooting in Littleton remind us of the importance of parental responsibility & the need for
involvement in our children’s lives,” Hatch said. “By requiring that all handguns be sold with safety devices, we will reinforce responsible handgun safety practices. No minor should ever be able to obtain unsupervised or unauthorized access to a handgun
Click for Orrin Hatch on other issues.
Source: senate.gov/~hatch “Press Release”
Gary Bauer on Gun Control
: May 10, 1999 New gun laws won’t prevent Littleton
Eighteen gun laws were violated that day in Littleton, Colorado. I don’t think anyone believes a 19th or 20th is going to stop the tragedies that we are seeing.
Click for Gary Bauer on other issues.
Source: CNN.com AllPolitics
John Kasich on Crime
: May 2, 1999 Columbine: Community involvement, not new laws
[Regarding the Columbine High shootings, Kasich said that] passing laws in Congress to address schoolhouse violence wasn’t the way to respond to the event. “I prefer to leave it to the families and communities,” he said. “The easiest thing to do is pass
a series of laws and say, okay, that fixed it. The harder responsibility is yours and mine,” he continued. “It’s whether you become a Little League coach or spend more time with the neighbor’s kids, that’s what fixes it.”
Click for John Kasich on other issues.
Source: The Concord (NH) Monitor, “Fly Fishing”, 5/2/99
Lamar Alexander on Gun Control
: Apr 30, 1999 More gun laws won’t prevent another Littleton
In a statement issued shortly after the Littleton, Colorado, school shootings, Alexander said, “This will not be stopped by more laws coming out of Washington.”
Click for Lamar Alexander on other issues.
Source: CNN.com AllPolitics
Steve Forbes on Education
: Apr 30, 1999 Columbine shooting shows need for morality in schools
Forbes said the Littleton, Colorado, shootings “underscore the need to be teaching our children morals and values obviously at home, but particularly in the schools now.”
Click for Steve Forbes on other issues.
Source: CNN
John McCain on Families & Children
: Apr 30, 1999 Violence in media caused Littleton shootings
Following the Littleton school shootings, McCain was one of four lawmakers who wrote Clinton after the shootings to call for a close look at “the entertainment media and the violent images and message with which they are bombarding our children.”
Click for John McCain on other issues.
Source: CNN AllPolitics
Elizabeth Dole on Families & Children
: Apr 29, 1999 Littleton due to lack of school discipline, not TV
[Regarding] the terrible events in Littleton: We must return discipline to the schools and give schools the authority to remove troubled students from the classroom so they can get the help they need. There’s also been a lot of discussion about the bad
effects of popular culture - especially the violence in video games, movies and TV. Stopping the violence . the cruelty and vulgar ideas . is not a reason for government censorship. It is a responsibility for society [and] the corporate world.
Click for Elizabeth Dole on other issues.
Source: Remarks to the Detroit Economic Club, 29 April 1999
Dan Quayle on Families & Children
: Apr 27, 1999 Littleton due to lack of parenting & character education
The issue is not really guns. It’s the simple response to a very complicated question. The question: Why? And more importantly, what are we going to do about it? Let me just throw out two other things: one, parental involvement, parental accountability,
and, two, character education in our schools. Those are two very substantive issues that will do a lot more to prevent future tragedies like we saw at Littleton.
Click for Dan Quayle on other issues.
Source: Excerpts from CNN’s “Crossfire”
Gary Bauer on Education
: Apr 21, 1999 For school prayer & Ten Commandments in schools
[Bauer] said that having the Ten Commandments and prayer in school would help avoid tragedies such as the one in Littleton, Colorado. Saying church and state have been separated to a degree never intended by the founding fathers, Bauer pointed to an
example of what he called “a tremendous hostility to men and women of faith” from the high school shooting.
Click for Gary Bauer on other issues.
Source: CNN AllPolitics
Pat Buchanan on Families & Children
: Apr 21, 1999 Littleton due to poisoned culture declaring “God is dead”
What was it in the upbringing or education of these two boys that failed to instill in their souls a conscience that discerned right from wrong? What was it in our polluted and poisoned culture that suggested that violence, murder, and suicide was a
valid expression of their resentment? America got a glimpse of the last stop on that train to hell she boarded decades ago when we declared that God is dead, and that each of us is his or her own god who can make up the rules as we go along.
Click for Pat Buchanan on other issues.
Source: www.GoPatGo.org/ “Press Release: Colorado Shootings”
George W. Bush on Families & Children
: Apr 21, 1999 Filter - or avoid - media that romanticizes violence
After the Littleton, Colorado, shootings, Bush blamed popular culture for ‘romanticizing violence.’ He said he favored parental filtering devices for television and the Internet, but said the best solution was simply not to watch violent shows.
Click for George W. Bush on other issues.
Source: Reuters
Additional quotations related to Columbine issues can be found under Juvenile Crime.
Click here for definitions & background information on Juvenile Crime.
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