A January 21 article in USA Today strongly supports what NRA has been saying for years -- America does not need more "gun control" laws, it needs the current laws enforced! The Clinton- Gore Administration has been claiming that the National Instant Check System (NICS) has been successful because the FBI reports that there have been 13,000 denials through NICS. FBI claims that convicted felons account for the majority of the denials, but they could not produce exact statistics. However, reporter Gary Fields points out the fact that not one of these 13,000 individuals has been arrested, even though it is a federal crime to falsify documents used for NICS checks. Fields quotes NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre as saying it is "a major scandal" that no arrests have been made. While stopping criminals from purchasing firearms is a noble cause, in order for NICS to truly be deemed a success, denials of real criminals must be followed by their arrest and imprisonment.

      In order to spread the word about the need to enforce existing laws, NRA launched an ad campaign this week in major news publications, including USA Today, the Washington Times, The Hill, Roll Call, and the National Journal, which issued a challenge to the Clinton-Gore Administration to support "Project Exile," a program originated in Richmond, Va. "Project Exile" is a cooperative effort between federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutors that calls for full prosecution of violent gun crimes under federal law, which has caused Richmond homicides to plummet 65%, armed robbery to fall 30%, and the number of felons caught carrying a firearm to be cut by 60% after the first year of activity. This decline is impressive by itself, but it is even more impressive when one notes that Richmond's homicide rate had been rising prior to the implementation of "Project Exile," while the national trend had been declining. In 1998, Richmond recorded its lowest number of homicides since 1987. Of course, this is not the first time that such a challenge has been issued to this Administration, but NRA's call for true crime-fighting efforts have thus far fallen on deaf ears in the White House. Even the State of the Union address made by Clinton this week continued the trend of attacking law-abiding gun owners by promoting policies that have shown to be useless in fighting crime, as he called for a nationwide waiting period on firearm purchases, and repeated his call for mandatory triggerlocks.

      Now, another city has agreed to add this critical tool to its crime-fighting repertoire. On Monday, January 25, at 9:30 a.m., NRA President Charlton Heston, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, and NRA-ILA Executive Director James J. Baker will appear at a news conference with Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell (D) and U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) to launch "Project Exile" in that city. The announcement is the culmination of a challenge issued by Mr. Heston last June, when NRA was in Philadelphia for its annual convention. Mayor Rendell accepted the challenge to adopt "Project Exile" to aggressively fight armed criminals in the city. NRA-ILA has compiled information on "Project Exile," which you can use to encourage your lawmakers to promote this critical crime-fighting program. Call the Grassroots Division, at (800) 392-8683, and we will be happy to send you the materials. This information is also available on our website, at http://www.nra.org.

=+=+=+=+
This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA.

This and other information on the Second Amendment and the NRA is available at: http://WWW.NRA.Org