BILL NUMBER: SR 19	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Baca

                        AUGUST 24, 1999

   Senate Resolution No. 19--Relative to reducing the use of firearms
by criminals.


  HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST



   WHEREAS, The United States Attorney's Office in Richmond, Virginia
has developed Project Exile, in partnership with the Richmond Police
Department and the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms; and
   WHEREAS, Under Project Exile, any time police find a gun on a drug
dealer, user, convicted felon, or suspect in a violent crime, the
case is tried under federal statutes that carry mandatory sentences
of at least five years without parole, and longer for repeated or
aggravated offenses; and
   WHEREAS, To spread the word in high crime neighborhoods, Project
Exile has placed the slogan "AN ILLEGAL GUN GETS YOU FIVE YEARS IN
FEDERAL PRISON" on billboards, flyers, and city buses, and through
television advertising; and
   WHEREAS, Two years ago, the homicide rate in Richmond, Virginia
was second only to that of Gary, Indiana, but since the inception of
Project Exile, murders in Richmond, Virginia have dropped sharply,
from 140 in 1997, to 94 in 1998, and 32 in the first six months of
1999.  Armed robberies have shown a similar decline; and
   WHEREAS, As of June 18, 1999, the Project Exile task force had won
long sentences for 279 gun-carrying criminals; and
   WHEREAS, As a result of the program, drug dealers and other
criminals are now afraid to carry guns on street corners in Richmond,
Virginia, and law-abiding citizens can walk without fear; and
   WHEREAS, The Exile program is being adopted in Atlanta, Georgia;
Birmingham, Alabama; Fort Worth, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana;
Norfolk, Virginia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Rochester, New York;
and San Francisco, California; and
   WHEREAS, President Clinton has expressed his support to Project
Exile; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the
Members of the Senate declare their support for programs such as
Project Exile which remove armed drug dealers and criminals from the
streets, and that the members express their support for the adoption
of this program nationwide, with appropriate federal funding; and be
it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution to the
California Congressional delegation and other interested parties.