(WASHINGTON, DC) -- When Handgun Control, Inc., the anti-firearms rights
lobby group, releases its annual "Back to School" report to praise states
that restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners and denigrate those
states that allow lawful citizens that right, the news media and all
Americans should remember what HCI^s report ignores -- that virtually none
of the federal gun laws already on the books are enforced by the
Clinton-Gore Administration.
"This sham of a report card completely ignores the real problem -- that
our current tough laws are not being enforced against violent felons with
guns, felons attempting to buy guns, drug dealers carrying guns and
violent juveniles taking guns to schools," said James J. Baker, executive
director of NRA^s Institute for Legislative Action. "This is just Handgun
Control, Inc.^s restatement of the obvious -- that they embrace
restrictive gun control laws and bans on lawful ownership of firearms."
Based on HCI^s faulty grading standards, Baker noted, the District of
Columbia would be A-rated as a safe community for school children, in
spite of the fact that Washington, D.C. ranks among the most violent
cities in America every year. "They don^t even grade Washington, D.C.,
where lawful citizens cannot even own a firearm in their home, because
based on their criteria, they^d have to give the city an A grade," Baker
said. "Yet everyone who lives there knows that the streets, neighborhoods
and schools are plagued by criminal violence because they fail to enforce
the law and prosecute repeat, violent felons in the District of Columbia.
All of HCI^s much-heralded, ineffective bans and restrictions don^t make a
difference to criminals and cannot replace tough, unflinching enforcement,
prosecution and incarceration of violent felons."
Baker called on Sarah Brady, chairwoman of HCI, to join the NRA in
lobbying Congress for $50 million for national implementation of Project
Exile, a tough program that originated in Richmond, Virginia to prosecute
violent felons with guns. "The anti-gun rights lobby says it favors
prosecution, yet they^ve never publicly urged the White House or the
Congress to adopt Project Exile, a program that has cut the murder rate in
Richmond by more than 40 percent in two years," Baker said. "NRA has
pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into promoting this effective,
life-saving program, but HCI has barely even given it lip service. Just
this week, the NRA contributed $15,000 to support Project Exile in
Virginia^s Hampton Roads community, bringing our level of direct
contribution to this enforcement program at more than $300,000. The
American people want the laws on the books enforced, and they want the
rights of lawful citizens preserved. The NRA remains committed to those
goals."
Baker noted that even President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno,
both of whom have called for further restrictions on lawful firearms
ownership, admit that none of their gun control proposals would have
prevented recent, sensationalized tragedies. "They admit that their gun
laws don^t work," Baker said. "California is home of some of the most
restrictive gun laws in the nation, yet all those laws only apply to the
law-abiding and couldn^t stop a released, deranged convicted felon from
driving around Los Angeles with a trunk full of guns. But if the tough
laws against felons in possession of firearms had been enforced, that
tragedy could have been prevented. Enforcement is prevention, but Bill
Clinton, Janet Reno and Sarah Brady apparently just don^t get it."
Baker also pointed out that of the 6,000 cases reported by the U.S.
Department of Education of juveniles bringing a gun to school over the
last two years, there have been only 13 prosecutions nationwide. And
during the last two years, only 11 criminals have been prosecuted
nationwide for illegally transferring guns to juveniles.
"Don^t tell law-abiding gun owners we need one more gun law, while the
Clinton-Gore Administration has presided over a 47 percent decrease in
prosecutions of federal gun crimes," Baker said. "And don^t tell me that
one more gun law will save lives, when Richmond^s Project Exile proves
that tough, unflinching enforcement of our current laws has saved hundreds
of lives in that city."
Uploaded:
8/25/1999