Members of the Samson Cree Nation of Alberta voted 479-370 in favor of a bylaw aimed at banishing gang members from the reserve.

Authorities say as many as a dozen gangs operate on and near the reserve. Gangs have been blamed for a rise in violent crime, including a slew of shooting deaths last year.

"It boils down to … the murders, the drive-bys, the violence that has plagued our community," council member Kirk Buffalo told CBC News.

The three other First Nations in the area, however, do not have a banishment law on the books.

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