Project Safe Neighborhoods –
Project Exile In Poor Disguise

Project Safe Neighborhoods is a new version of Project Exile that has been
implemented in the last several years in various state and local governments.
A watered down version of this is known in Tucson as Project Excaliber.
These programs have the same general philosophy in that convicted felons should be prosecuted for federal firearms violations along with whatever crime they committed while carrying a gun as a prohibited possessor. In some cases no other crime was committed other than being in possession of a gun. The
idea is to shift these cases to the federal courts where the bail is higher and the sentencing guidelines tougher to keep these offenders behind bars for longer periods of time. If this were only being used to lock up true criminals and violent offenders to keep them off the streets then it would be good.
But it’s not.

Why is it we would want to prohibit all convicted felons from owning or
being in possession of firearms? Remember, I said “ALL”. That means anyone
at anytime in their life that has ever received felony conviction for any reason. The policy of Project Safe Neighborhoods is “Zero tolerance”. Currently the BATF will not restore any individuals right to possess a firearm that has ever had a felony conviction or violent misdemeanor. The BATF is prohibited by Congress from using manpower or their budget to restore those rights. Even with a court order from a Federal Judge demanding they do so, they will not.

Although the Safe Neighborhoods plan sounds great at first there are many
problems with it that are now coming to light. One needs to ponder the
implications of the entire plan on those who are truly hardened criminals
and those who are not. Here a two examples which I want you to consider.

Example one: Let us say you are 18 years old and a college freshman. You
are enjoying your new found freedom. Along with that comes a curiosity about
Marijuana. So you decide to try it out with some friends. ( Both George W
Bush and Bill Clinton did this in school). In many states even the smallest
amount is a felony. So one of your friends gives you a small amount to take
home. You get stopped for not wearing a seat belt. You consent to a search
and the officer finds the marijuana. You are convicted of a felony. 30 years
later not thinking about the conviction since you have had no other altercations, you take your fathers rifle target shooting. On the way home that evening you get stopped for having a burned out license plate light. The officer runs your name and finds you are a felon and have a gun. Under Project Exile/Safe Neighborhoods you now will spend the next 5 years in prison. Remember, this is a ZERO tolerance plan. No plea bargains, no easy outs.

Example two: You graduate from college, as a gift from your parents you
get a brand new Mustang with all the frills and horsepower you want. A few
weeks later you decide to see what it will do. You get stopped for doing 86
mph in a 55 zone on a rural highway. In some places this is Felony Speeding since it is in access of 25 miles an hour above the posted speed. Ten years later you awaken to the sound of a burglar in your home. You confront him with a gun. He surrenders and the police arrive. During the interview with the cops they run your name and find out you have a felony speeding conviction and possess a gun. After the cases go through the courts they give the burglar a 90 day sentence in county jail and you get five years in federal prison for defending your life and property with a gun.

Think it cant happen? It does every day. These are not as isolated as you
think. And they knew when this plan was drafted what the outcome would be.
You need to read this information linked below, it could be you or a loved
one next.

The Cato institute has an 18 page policy analysis which brings to light
many of the more sinister implications of this program. In order to save
space I have included the link to the Cato web page.

A short summary is at this link:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-440es.html

The entire 18 page article is in pdf format at this link:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa440.pdf
I highly recommend that you take the time to read it.

Gary Taylor
President, Brassroots Inc.