Sensible gun laws are being adopted in a number of
localities. Here are a couple of examples:
JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY
Mayor Steven Fulop of Jersey City, New Jersey used the
city’s police department’s need to buy $350,000 in firearms and ammunition as a
way to influence gun suppliers. To bid on the contract, the companies had to
explain what they do with old weapons and how they comply with federal and
state background check laws.
The mayor’s policy was meant to encourage the private sector
to clamp down on both illegal and straw purchases, both of which are major ways
criminals get guns.
PEACE FELLOWSHIP
Richmond, California has implemented a plan to curb gun
violence that looks at the individuals, not the weapons, to find a solution.
DeVonne Boggan, director of neighborhood safety for the city, believes the
solution is to find ways to convince young men not to pick up guns in the first
place; not to turn to firearms to solve their problems.
Here is how it works. Boggan’s office identifies young men
who are suspected of being involved in a shooting, but who have not been
charged or convicted. He invites them to join “The Peace Fellowship Program.”
The program involves a team of older neighbor residents who
coach the young men in setting goals and the steps they need to take to achieve
them. These goals range from getting driver’s licenses to applying for college.
Boggan’s program to end gun violence began in 2007 and as of
July 2014 had recruited 68 peace fellows. Twenty-five of these young men have
completed the fifteen-month program. Fifty-seven have avoided being charged
with a firearm assault since joining and all but three are still alive.
The program’s perks include trips abroad to Cape Town and
Dubai and cash awards for staying in the program for more than six months.
The Peace Fellowship Program appears to have had real
success. In January 2014, the police department announced that Richmond had the
lowest number of homicides in three decades. (To be continued)
