Have you ever heard of Project Exile?

Until a week or so ago, I hadn't either. I saw a small, one-page article in Time Magazine about it.

Lots of stuff slips by me. I don't see every story about every issue. But I do try to keep up.

That's why I was really surprised to find out about this Project Exile thing in a small article in the back of Time Magazine.

Seems to me it should be on the front pages of a bunch of big newspapers. Seems to me Associated Press should have it on their digest.

But no. Most people probably have never even heard about it. And it's been going on for quite a while.

Project Exile was an idea hatched by federal prosecutors in Richmond, Va. You see, they simply started prosecuting criminals who violated gun laws.

The Justice Department, as you know, has a long-standing policy of ignoring federal gun laws with respect to armed, violent criminals. Under federal law it is illegal for any person with a prior felony conviction to possess a gun. The violation is punishable by 10 years in a federal prison with no parole.

Yet under the current administration, virtually all federal gun law violations go unpunished.

Just like the highly-touted Brady law. President Bill Clinton routinely talks about the number of handgun purchases that were stopped by the Brady law via the National Instant Check System.

The FBI says that 13,000 denials through NICS show that the law is a success. They also claim that convicted felons comprise the bulk of the denials, although they really can't back that up with statistics.

What Bill and his buddies don't tell us is that there has not been one arrest connected to all these Brady stops.

Every convicted felon who attempted to purchase a gun committed at least a couple federal felonies. A convicted felon who handles a gun in a gunshop violates federal law. But there were no arrests.

Keeping criminals from buying handguns is certainly a worthwhile cause, but for Brady to be a true success, denials under Brady should be followed up with arrest, conviction and imprisonment.

So anyway, these prosecutors in Richmond actually started prosecuting felons in possession of handguns. They started this in 1997. At that time, Richmond had the second highest murder rate in the country - second only to our murderous neighbors to the northwest in Gary, Ind.

At the inception of Project Exile (called "exile" because the bad guys are sent far away from their homes to federal prisons), local officials also did a little marketing.

They put up billboards that explained very plainly that if you get caught with an illegal gun you will go to federal prison. Period.

Local officials also put out fliers all over the place, especially in seedy parts of town where the targets of Project Exile would likely see them.

The National Rifle Association helped fund the advertising.

Then the cops started busting people.

Day-to-day arrests in Richmond that involved illegal guns were reviewed and turned over to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. Those that qualified as Project Exile cases were sent to the U.S. Attorney's office for prosecution in U.S. District Court.

What a concept. Actually enforcing some of those 20,000-odd federal gun laws on the books.

Guess what happened next?

In 1997, there were 140 murders in Richmond. After Project Exile, in 1998, there were 96. That was the lowest number of murders in more than 10 years.

The crime rate in Richmond went down 55 percent in one year. The overall crime rate went down 65 percent. Homicides plummeted 65 percent, armed robbery was down 30 percent and the number of felons caught with firearms dropped 60 percent in one year. One year.

Project Exile is a success. Enforcing the law works.

A couple things bother me about this story.

The first thing is how little publicity this stunningly successful project has received. It barely rates a blip. To me, this is big news. Much bigger than the Brady law. We hear about Brady all the time.

Next is how mum the Clinton administration has been about it. You would think the administration would be jumping on the crimefighting bandwagon or at least taking credit for Richmond's success. After all, they are federal laws that are being enforced.

The National Rifle Association, which is working with Congress and putting up $2.3 million to market the program in Philadelphia and Camden, N.J., has been urging the Clinton administration to embrace Project Exile, but to no avail.

Calls for crime fighting seem to fall on deaf ears in this administration.

We do hear lots about going after law-abiding gun owners. We hear lots about policies that do nothing to thwart crime. Things like waiting periods, registration, licensing, instant checks and triggerlocks.

I would like to see Project Exile embraced nationwide. For a time, we would really be taxing the prison system.

But after that, I think the United States would be a lot safer place to live. A place where only law-abiding citizens owned firearms. [[In-content Ad]]