Turn off the alarms

A provision addressing firearm background checks does not belong in a federal appropriations bill, any more than $275,000 to refurbish the Coach George E. Ford Center in Powder Springs, Ga., does.

But the cries from some quarters that gun control laws will be gutted if the FBI is allowed to discard certain background check information after 24 hours are nothing but hyperbolic fear-mongering.

The provision that has gun control advocates gnashing their teeth would require destroying federal gun purchase records within 24 hours, not the current 90 days, if law enforcement officials found no instant warning signals of a criminal past or mental illness.

Last I checked, the law said no records would be kept, at all. The FBI interpreted that as "we'll keep records for 90 days to make sure the system is working", but they did so in specific contravention of the law. Suppose the law does get passed with this provision... what are the odds the FBI would not find another excuse?

Posted on 2003-12-09 16:14:06.0 by matthew@triggerfinger.org

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