Clinton to Announce Gun Safety Plan
By JIM ABRAMS Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Clinton’s final budget proposal will include $30 million to help local communities track gun violence and promote gun safety, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo said Monday.

Cuomo said the HUD-administered program, which needs congressional approval, would fund local efforts to computerize the mapping of gun violence and chart gun-related incidents in a community.

Funding would also go toward education and outreach programs to promote gun safety, he said. The president is to announce his year 2001 budget proposal on Feb. 7

Cuomo said the spending initiative was part of a three-track administration campaign against gun violence, joining legislative efforts and possible litigation against gun manufacturers.

On the legislative front, Clinton has proposed issuing photo ID licenses for handgun purchases and has urged Congress to pass gun control legislation, stalled in last year’s session, that included background checks for gun show purchases and child safety locks. He has also proposed $280 million in funds to hire 500 new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents and 1,000 new prosecutors.

In addition, the administration has threatened a new national class-action lawsuit to be filed through HUD’s public housing projects against gunmakers.

Cuomo said that lawsuit would go forward if the manufacturers do not settle suits filed by 28 cities charging the makers with negligently allowing firearms to fall into the hands of criminals.

He said a meeting with the manufacturers scheduled for Jan. 28 in Las Vegas fell through when some companies voiced objections, and the parties are now dealing individually with the gunmakers.

Cuomo said public housing projects, often in urban areas with higher crime rates, are particularly vulnerable to gun violence, which kills some 30,000 people a year.

“The problem has become so widespread and it is such a concern of the American people and it was such a disappointment when nothing was done last year that this Congress cannot afford not to address it,” Cuomo said.