File #: Res 1273-2000    Version: * Name: Gun Cases, Adopt Richmond Virginia Programs
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Public Safety
On agenda: 3/29/2000
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution urging local and federal prosecuting authorities to consider the benefits of prosecuting gun cases as federal crimes and adopting such programs as have been found effective in Richmond, Virginia and other cities.
Sponsors: Julia Harrison, Tracy L. Boyland, Kathryn E. Freed, Michael C. Nelson, Christine C. Quinn, Philip Reed, Lawrence A. Warden, Stephen J. Fiala, June M. Eisland, Kenneth K. Fisher, Wendell Foster, Walter L. McCaffrey, Stanley E. Michels, Una Clarke
Council Member Sponsors: 14
Res. No. 1273 Title Resolution urging local and federal prosecuting authorities to consider the benefits of prosecuting gun cases as federal crimes and adopting such programs as have been found effective in Richmond, Virginia and other cities. Body By Council Members Harrison, Boyland, Freed, Nelson, Quinn, Reed, Warden and Fiala; also Council Members Eisland, Fisher, Foster, McCaffrey, Michels and Clarke Whereas, Gun violence is a serious concern in all American cities, including New York City; and Whereas, According to the Fiscal 1999 Mayor's Management Report, there were 2, 118 reported shooting victims in Fiscal 1998 and 2,009 reported shooting victims in Fiscal 1999; and Whereas, According to data compiled by the Department of Health, there were 486 deaths by firearms in 1997, 483 of which were deemed homicides; and Whereas, Gun violence has exacted a heavy human toll in this City and all programs to combat such gun violence should be considered; and Whereas, The City of Richmond, Virginia, in 1997, instituted a program called Project Exile, in which an individual carrying a gun may be subject to federal prosecution under federal gun laws that carry greater prison sentences than comparable state laws; and Whereas, As of August 1999, Project Exile led to 518 indictments, 358 convictions and the seizure of 611 guns, and the number of homicides in Richmond in 1998 dropped 33 percent from 1997 and the number of robberies fell 21 percent; and Whereas, Part of the campaign to get guns off the streets in Richmond included advertising Project Exile on business cards, billboards and city buses, with the message that "An illegal gun gets you five years in federal prison"; and Whereas, Project Exile has been successful and President Clinton praised the program in a weekly radio commentary, saying it has reduced gun crime and taken serious criminals off the street; and Whereas, Other cities, such as Philadelphia, New Orleans and Oakland, California, have introduced their own versions of Project Exile; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the New York City Council urges local and federal prosecuting authorities to consider the benefits of prosecuting gun cases as federal crimes and adopting such programs as have been found effective in Richmond, Virginia and other cities. LS#2745