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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Clinton Sets Program To Track Guns Sold Illegally To Teenagers Gun Traffickers To Be Prosecuted Under Existing Federal, State Laws

Associated Press

President Clinton plans to announce a new federal program to track illegal gun sales to young people, The New York Times reported Monday.

The announcement is scheduled for Monday at a White House ceremony attended by police chiefs and prosecutors from 17 cities.

The officials will sign an agreement pledging to provide information on every gun they confiscate from a juvenile during a crime, the newspaper said.

The information will then be entered into the federal computer system run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Each gun will be traced to its original seller through documents and serial numbers to try to determine who is selling guns to juveniles. The gun traffickers will then be prosecuted, according to the Times.

The eventual goal is to have all cities in the nation join the program.

In Boston, a pilot version of the program and increased police efforts against guns have been so successful that no juveniles have been killed by guns this year, the city’s police commissioner, Paul Evans, told the Times.

It is already illegal under federal law and the laws of most states to sell handguns to juveniles, a factor that makes the President’s program easier to implement because it does not require the passage of new legislation that could lead to a debate on gun control.

The 17 cities involved in the program were selected in part to have participation from cities of various sizes and from various regions.

The Times identified the cities involved as New York, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Birmingham, Ala., Bridgeport, Conn., Inglewood, Calif., Memphis, Cleveland, Jersey City, Milwaukee, Richmond, St. Louis, Salinas, Calif., San Antonio, Seattle and Washington.