FEDERAL PROSECUTION FAILURES DOCUMENTED

It takes ENFORCEMENT to fill this cell...

      For years, NRA has been calling on the Clinton-Gore Administration to abandon its policy of attacking the Second Amendment and focus federal resources on enforcing existing laws. Our concern over the dramatic drop in BATF criminal prosecution referrals for firearms law violations under this Administration is underscored by a recent analysis of law enforcement data done by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University. The TRAC study shows that BATF cases sent to federal prosecutors plummeted 44% from 1992 (the peak year for prosecutions) to 1998, dropping from 9,885 to 5,510.

      While BATF claims these declines are related to an increased focus on "king pins" of the firearms black market, we would expect this claim to at least be substantiated by longer prison sentences -- but this simply is not the case. The peak of a 57 month median for sentences following BATF investigations under the Clinton-Gore Administration came in 1996. By 1998, median sentence length dropped to 46 months.

      In what appears to be a sign that NRA's call to enforce existing laws before enacting new ones is finally being heard by the federal government, the Los Angeles Times reported on September 2 that "[f]ederal prosecutors in Los Angeles are changing their internal policies to allow them to prosecute more gun crimes." U.S. Attorney Alejandro N. Mayorkas, who heads the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney's office, claimed, "Firearms violations are a top priority." Considering Los Angeles ranked 87th out of 90 districts for criminal referrals per capita, we can see why Mayorkas' office seems to be taking the lead on these changes.

      NRA can only wonder why it took so long for federal authorities to realize that just passing laws is not going to reduce crime -- the laws also have to be enforced.

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