Bill Clinton has indicated that he will continue to instruct HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, one of the Clinton-Gore Administration's most loyal anti-gun lapdogs, to promote the HUD-funded gun-surrender program called "Buyback America." U.S. Representative James T. Walsh (R-N.Y.), who is the chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees HUD, wrote to Cuomo in July, telling him to stop funding the program. The letter, which was also signed by U.S. Representatives Allan Mollohan (D-W.V.) and Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), pointed out that funding the gun-surrender program was not authorized by law -- a position supported by both judicial review and the GAO. Walsh stated that HUD is misspending federal funds by diverting $15 million earmarked for a program designed to fight drugs in public housing to pay for the gun turn-in scheme. Walsh told the Washington Post, "Drug elimination funds are for eliminating drugs.... Gun buyback programs, whether you agree or disagree with them, do not qualify under that funding scheme." He also pointed out that he felt "gun buybacks are sort of silly" because criminals are not going to turn in their firearms for the HUD-suggested price of $50. Walsh's evaluation of the ineffectiveness of gun-surrender schemes is supported by research funded by Janet Reno's DOJ, as well as by researchers on both sides of the gun issue.
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