[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 12 (Monday, March 29, 1999)]
[Pages 489-490]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Memorandum on Deterring and Reducing Gun Crime

March 20, 1999

Memorandum for the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General

Subject: Deterring and Reducing Gun Crime

    Since the start of my Administration, we have developed and 
implemented a number of effective national strategies to reduce crime. 
We have provided funds to over 11,000 communities to hire and deploy 
more than 92,000 local law enforcement officers; we have prevented more 
than a quarter of a million illegal handgun sales through Brady 
background checks; and we have developed a coordinated attack on the 
illegal sources of guns used in crime. Dozens of other smart, tough, 
crime-fighting strategies have been put in place throughout the country 
through the leadership and dedicated efforts of State and local police 
and prosecutors, Mayors, U.S. Attorneys, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 
and Firearms (ATF), and community leaders.
    During this period, the Nation's crime rate has dropped by more than 
20 percent, and crime committed with guns has dropped 27 percent. In 
certain communities, where Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
officials have worked with other community leaders, violent crime rates 
have gone down even more dramatically. In Boston, Massachusetts, for 
example, when law enforcement and community leaders worked together to 
reduce violence by youth gangs, they reduced the number of homicides 
among youth by 70 percent in just 2 years. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, 
effective law enforcement and prevention efforts conducted by public-
private partnerships have reduced homicides by 30 percent and summertime 
homicides by 75 percent. And in Richmond, Virginia, effective and 
coordinated law enforcement, including stepped up enforcement of gun 
crimes through the program known as Project Exile, has reduced the 
homicide rate significantly.
    Still, the number of people killed with firearms remains 
unacceptably high. More than 14,000 people were murdered with guns in 
the United States in 1997. We must redouble our efforts to deter and 
further reduce gun crime--and work to make every neighborhood and 
community free of gun violence.
    I therefore direct you to develop an integrated firearms violence 
reduction strategy that draws on the proven measures and innovative 
approaches being demonstrated by communities throughout the country. We 
know that gun violence issues differ in each community, and no single 
program or strategy will be right for every community. Therefore, in 
developing the strategy, you should consult closely with U.S. Attorneys 
and ATF Special Agents in Charge, as well as other Federal, State, and 
local law enforcement, elected officials, and other leaders. The 
strategy should consider the special needs of local communities and 
strike an appropriate balance between Federal and State law enforcement. 
I ask that the strategy specifically include elements to:
    (1) Increase investigation and prosecution of significant firearms 
      violations, including illegal possession, use, and trafficking of 
      guns, through innovative programs such as Project Exile and 
      Boston's Operation Ceasefire;
    (2) Expand comprehensive ``crime gun'' tracing, analysis, and 
      mapping; increase use of ballistics identification technology; and 
      coordinate use of crime gun information to identify illegal gun 
      markets, gun ``hot spots,'' and illegal gun traffickers;
    (3) Strengthen the coordination of law enforcement and regulatory 
      enforcement efforts to ensure compliance with all applicable laws 
      by federally licensed gun dealers and prospective gun purchasers;

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    (4) Implement targeted deterrence of violent offenders through (a) 
      improved coordination with probation and parole officials 
      supervising such offenders, and (b) swift and certain punishment 
      for those found to have violated the conditions of their parole or 
      probation; and
    (5) Promote problem-solving analysis and innovative strategies to 
      work closely with community members to identify gun criminals, 
      remove weapons in the hands of juveniles, search for and seize 
      crime guns, and increase the public's knowledge of their 
      community's gun-related crime and violence problem.
    Finally, I direct you to make recommendations on how best to 
allocate Federal resources to support the goals of the strategy you 
develop. I further direct you to provide me with your report on this 
integrated firearms violence reduction strategy within 90 days of the 
date of this memorandum.
                                            William J. Clinton