"First Monday 2000 reflects the strength of the grassroots movement to end gun violence," Cuomo said. "Ten children die each day from gun violence, yet Congress still refuses to pass common-sense gun safety legislation. How much longer, as a national community, will we tolerate this situation?"

The Clinton Administration has undertaken a series of initiatives to reduce gun violence, including:

• More than 20,000 guns have been purchased and destroyed in 80 cities during the first year of HUD's Buyback America program, which the President announced last September as an initiative to reduce gun-related deaths and injuries.
• In February, the President proposed to Congress a $280 million national firearms enforcement initiative for fiscal year 2001. The money will be used to: hire 500 new agents and inspectors for the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; hire more than 1,000 prosecutors at all levels of government; fund new gun tracing and ballistics testing systems to catch more criminals who use guns; fund local media campaigns to discourage gun violence; and expand the development of "smart gun" technologies.
• The President also proposed to Congress a $30 million Community Gun Safety and Violence Reduction Initiative for next fiscal year. If funded as proposed, the HUD-administered program will: develop public education and outreach programs that promote responsible gun ownership and address hazards posed by firearms; provide technical assistance and funds to innovative gun violence reduction programs; and fund state-of-the-art tracking and mapping partnerships that provide critical information about gun-related violence and support community and law enforcement efforts to reduce gun violence. Local governments, law enforcement agencies, public housing authorities, community organizations and other groups will be eligible to compete for HUD grants to support gun violence reduction initiatives.
• In March, HUD and the Treasury Department signed a historic agreement with Smith & Wesson to implement a "code of conduct" to increase gun safety and keep guns out of the hands of criminals and children.