House Republicans introduce bill to encourage gun crime prosecutions

Dems seek to beef up ATF as gun control rhetoric continues

March 22, 2000
Web posted at: 5:09 p.m. EST (2209 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Arguing for the enforcement of existing gun laws instead of the enactment of new ones, House Republicans introduced a bill Wednesday that encourages states to more vigorously prosecute criminals who use guns.

"The sad truth is violent criminals are back on the streets before they should be and are committing additional crimes," said Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Florida), who introduced the bill.

Championed by the influential National Rifle Association, the five-year, $100 million "Project Exile" program rewards individual states with cash grants if that state agrees to require mandatory minimum sentences without parole for gun-toting criminals.

The legislation is based on a Richmond, Virginia, program credited with reducing homicides by 46 percent, crimes involving guns by 65 percent and violent crimes by 35 percent since 1997, according to the bill's supporters.

In its war of words with President Bill Clinton, the NRA has accused the administration of failing to enforce existing federal gun laws. Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, decried the GOP bill as "NRA posturing."

"The bill does nothing to target the one percent of gun dealers who are responsible for selling nearly half of the guns traced to crime," Conyers said. "It does nothing to plug the NRA-sponsored loopholes that, among other things, allows criminals to get out of jail and get their guns back."

The Republican bill was introduced one day after House Democrats, led by Conyers and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-New York), introduced a $280 million enforcement bill that increases the staff of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and adds new prosecutors to handle gun cases.

The Democrats' proposed bill would fund 500 new ATF agents and inspectors, expand ATF authority to investigate gun stores suspected of being major suppliers to criminals and hire as many as 1,000 new prosecutors.

It also seek to expand the "Project Exile" program, and would also create a ballistic testing network to help link bullets to guns used in committing crimes.

"If the gun lobby is really serious about enforcing tough gun laws, then the NRA should endorse this bill and put their muscle into passing it," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D- New York), who supports such legislation.

Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), an NRA board member, said Tuesday that he would look at the bill to see if there was any common ground that Republicans might find acceptable.

Reuters contributed to this report.