| Vol. 4, No. 46 | November 17, 1998 |
Feds Finally Fund Laws to Get Guns Out Of Criminal Hands
Tucked into the massive appropriations bill passed by the U.S. Congress the end of last month is a small provision with enormous implications: funding of "Project Exile" in two cities. (See H11058 of the Congressional Record: October 19, 1998, House)
Project Exile is an effort conceived by a courageous group of federal prosecutors in Richmond, Virginia, who essentially bucked the Justice Department's standing policy of ignoring federal gun laws with respect to armed violent career criminals. Under federal law, it is illegal for any person with a prior felony conviction to possess a gun. Violation is punishable by 10 years in federal prison, no parole. Yet under the Clinton-Gore Justice Department, virtually all violations of federal guns laws by criminals have gone unpunished.
But by actually prosecuting these "felon in possession" cases, Richmond officials have cut the city's homicide rate, which in 1997 was the second highest in the nation, by more than half. In the last year alone, local and federal prosecutors put away 202 of the cities' most dangerous violent criminals most for illegally possessing guns. The average sentence was 56 months in the federal penitentiary. Plus, there have been an additional 259 related state arrests.
According to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, "officials were shocked . . . at the extent of [Project Exile] suspects' criminal records. Several had four and eight convictions for offenses as serious as robbery, abduction and murder."
These findings are consistent with research dating back more than a decade that finds only a handful of offenders are responsible for the majority of all violent crime.
NRA endorsed and financially supported Project Exile in Richmond. Working with congress, NRA has helped secure $2.3 million for emulation of Project Exile in Philadelphia, PA, and Camden County, NJ, where the same crime-fighting success is anticipated.