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May-08-99 09:03A hci/cphv 202 3711776 P.02 STATEMENT OF CATHERINE MURPHY White House, May 8, 1999 Good afternoon. Almost exactly a year ago, I stood on the south lawn of the United States Capitol with Representative Carolyn McCarthy, Mrs. Sarah Brady, and other mothers who had seen their families crippled or destroyed by gun violence. I was grateful for the opportunity to speak in favor of legislation that was being introduced that would keep kids away from guns. All I wanted was to spare other mothers the anguish I suffered when I lost my son Christopher to an unintentional shooting. My son was not killed by a homicidal, depressed, angry child. He was killed unintentionally by a young next door neighbor whose parents were not responsible enough to lock their gun away. As a New York City police officer, I carry a firearm every day, and lock it up every night when I get home. But that couldn't protect my child in someone else's house - and every single day, some parent learns the same lesson I did when their beloved child is dead from an accident that could have been prevented. Every day, there's a surviving child like my son Justin, who misses his older brother who will never come back.