From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
NRA-ILA FAX ALERT
Vol. 7, No. 48
GUN TURN-IN SCHEMES FIND
NO SHORTAGE OF CRITICS
Fox News reporter Adrienne Mand recently took a look at gun turn-in
programs and apparently had little trouble finding critics of schemes such
as the Department of Housing and Urban Development�s (HUD) BuyBack
America. "Designed to reduce the toll of gun violence," BuyBack America
was launched last Spring in 84 communities and used funds from HUD�s Drug
Elimination Grant Program to purchase guns and destroy them.
In her November 22, 2000, report, Mand asked David Kennedy, a
senior researcher at Harvard University�s Kennedy School program in
criminal justice, about such turn-in programs. "They do very little good,"
Kennedy said. "The pool of guns that get turned in in buy backs are simply
not the same guns that would otherwise have been used in crime. If you
look at the people who are turning in firearms, they are consistently the
least crime-prone: older people and women."
Michael Romero, a research associate at the Violence Prevention
Research Program at the University of California, Davis, also noted that
"the guns that are turned in for these programs may not resemble the guns
that are frequently used in crimes."
Finally, Richard Rosenfeld, of the University of Missouri-St.
Louis, has also studied turn-in programs, and told Mand: "People should
simply keep in mind what their goals are. If it�s reducing violence, it�s
not going to have an effect." Rosenfeld did say, however, that he thought
such efforts helped citizens who reside in high-crime areas "to see that
the larger community is trying to do something." Unfortunately, that
"something," as stated by the Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA),
is often a no-questions-asked policy that provides criminals with a legal
and foolproof way in which to dispose of a firearm that has been used in a
crime, all funded by tax-payer dollars.
HOT AIR AND LAME DUCK PROPOSALS
True to form, and unable to pass up possibly his final chance to engage in
anti-gun grandstanding, President Clinton marked the seventh anniversary
of the signing of the Brady Act on Thursday, November 30, with a call to
further expand the rarely-enforced federal law.
With only 50 days remaining in the Clinton-Gore Administration�s
orchestrated 8-year assault on law-abiding gun owners, Clinton called on
Attorney General Janet Reno and Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers to
launch new efforts to "strengthen enforcement" of selected provisions
within the Brady Act and National Instant Criminal [Background] Check
System (NICS). Mired in the waning days of his presidency, and still
grasping to secure a legacy, Clinton has tossed out some last-minute
proposals centered mainly on the concept of using new technology to
develop a national notification system to more effectively provide
information to state and local law enforcement officials about persons who
attempted to illegally purchase firearms and were denied via NICS checks.
Under the current procedure, state and local law enforcement are
notified of denied sales to fugitives, felons, and persons under domestic
violence restraining orders. The thrust of Clinton�s request of DOJ, FBI
and the Treasury Department is that state and local law enforcement be
provided more information more quickly about NICS denials of other
categories beyond the above mentioned categories of prohibited purchasers.
As a federal law, of course, the Brady Act is under federal
jurisdiction, but neither procedure dedicates federal personnel to its
enforcement. In claiming that the Brady Act "has now stopped more than
611,000 felons, fugitives and domestic abusers from buying guns," the most
anti-gun chief executive in the history of our nation failed to address
the shameful fact that his Administration has failed miserably to
prosecute violent armed felons.
Further casting a cloud of doubt over the president�s touting of
Brady Act successes is his Administration�s ongoing denial to news
organizations and the general public of access to data showing how it has
enforced the nation�s firearms laws. Such information has routinely been
made available in past administrations, yet the Clinton-Gore Justice
Department uses only selected data in carefully crafted press releases and
congressional inquiries in attempts to both advance its policies and
deflect valid criticisms. If the complete data support his
Administration�s claims, why have the numbers been hidden from our
nation�s news organizations and the general public?
WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?
Further adding to his "wish list" during the closing days of his term,
President Clinton is once again giving lip service to the enforcement of
existing firearms laws. He is calling upon the Congress to provide him
with a budget that will include funds to add another 500 BATF agents and
inspectors, as well as an increase in federal, state, and local
prosecutors. Yet despite Clinton�s public hand-wringing, this is still the
same Administration that has presided over the BATF�s embarrassing 44%
decline in federal firearm prosecution referrals from 1992 to 1998.
Meanwhile, it wasn�t until last year that the Clinton-Gore
Administration reluctantly admitted that enforcement initiatives such as
NRA-backed Project Exile really do work, and even then still didn�t give
the program backing by the full weight of the executive branch. While
details of this latest proposal are still largely unknown, it remains
clear that for nearly 8 years, this Administration has done little to
ensure that existing laws were enforced. Rather, it has presided over a
catch-and-release system for known offenders.
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