"An Illegal Gun Gets You Five Years in Federal Prison."
As part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia unveiled a new aggressive community awareness campaign to combat gun violence.
The message is " Look up. Look out. Virginia's Toughest Gun Laws Have Not Gone Away. Only the Criminals Have."
Paul McNulty, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia unveiled the new campaign. Other partners include the attorney general for Virginia, the Commonwealth's attorney for Richmond, the Virginia State Police, and Richmond Police.
"Project Exile works on many levels," said Richmond Police Chief Andre Parker. "It works because of the various partnerships. But it also works because of the p.r. and marketing behind it. Criminals see and hear the messages.
"More importantly, they get the message. Criminals don't want to get caught with illegal guns."
Reducing gun violence in America is one of President George W. Bush's highest priorities," McNulty said. "In May of 2001, President Bush announced Project Safe Neighborhoods a nationwide initiative to reduce gun violence in America. Attorney General John Ashcroft is implementing Project Safe Neighborhoods through the 93 United States attorneys. Next to our anti-terrorism efforts, there is no higher domestic law enforcement priority in the country."
"We all know there is too much gun violence in our communities, especially in the city of Richmond," McNulty added. "Gun violence must be brought under control. The most effective way to do that is to remove those criminals from society and put them in prison for a long time. That is what this initiative is all about."
