Supreme Court Remains Silent
On Clinton/Reno Registration Scheme -
Ashcroft Does Not
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"...Since the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, it has become a political problem for Congress or John Ashcroft to fix..." |
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-- Attorney Stephen P. Halbrook |
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On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear NRA's
challenge of a lower court ruling that held the FBI could keep
personal information acquired through National Instant Check
System (NICS) checks of gun buyers for up to six months. On
Thursday, however, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced
that he is considering a proposal that would slash the amount of
time allowed to keep these records to less than one day, an
effort that will include working to increase the accuracy and
efficiency of NICS.
NRA-ILA Executive Director James Jay Baker
stated, "This announcement is a tremendous step in the right
direction in protecting the privacy rights of gun buyers," but
added, "NRA will continue to pursue all available means to ensure
that those personal records [of law-abiding gun purchasers] are
destroyed immediately."
Atty. Stephen Halbrook |
After the Supreme Court's non-ruling, there was a great deal of
misinformation circulating regarding what it actually meant.
"Despite what was incorrectly reported in the [mainstream] media,
the Supreme Court didn't rule against NRA in this case," said
Stephen P. Halbrook, NRA attorney in the case. "Just because the
Supreme Court declines to hear a case doesn't say anything about
the merits of the case. The judges in the lower courts simply
did not read the law properly. Since the Supreme Court declined
to hear the case, it has become a political problem for Congress
or John Ashcroft to fix."
The Brady Act clearly states that if a firearm transfer is not
denied, the NICS operator must assign a unique number to the
dealer and destroy all other records of the transfer. In
addition, the Act states that no such records can be transferred
to, or recorded at, any local, state, or federal government
facility, and the act also specifically forbids the creation of
any system of registration for firearms owners, firearms, or
transfers.
Yesterday's announcement by Ashcroft, which was merely one
segment of a much larger package of proposals designed to improve
the enforcement of existing the laws that prohibit violent
criminals from possessing firearms, drew knee-jerk reactions from
gun-ban extremists. U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), one of
Congress's most shrill proponents of restricting law-abiding gun
owners and banning firearms, called it "the most disappointing
news we've received," and the gun-ban lobby formerly known as HCI
all but accused Ashcroft of refusing to enforce federal laws
regulating firearms. Even the fledgling anti-gun organization,
"Americans for Gun Safety" (AGS) - a group comprised of just one
American and his staff, Internet billionaire and former HCI Board
Member Andrew McKelvey - chose to respond to yesterday's
announcement with its own attack on President George Bush. All
of these anti-gun extremists chose to conveniently ignore
Ashcroft's plan to expand the enforcement of existing gun laws
against violent criminals.
With the exception of anti-gun extremists, however, Ashcroft's
announcement was met with bi-partisan support. U.S. Senator
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) stated, "I applaud the attorney general for
this pro-privacy initiative. I look forward to working with him
to protect the privacy of law-abiding citizens while keeping guns
from the hands of criminals and children. I also agree with him
that the Department of Justice should vigorously enforce our
federal firearms laws."
ILA's Baker agreed with Leahy's logic and explained the problems
that AG Ashcroft faces in seeking to improve NICS operations.
"There are still a lot of holdovers from the Reno era within the
Department of Justice who think the federal government should
maintain files on law-abiding Americans," Baker pointed out, then
stated, "The NRA will continue to pursue all available means to
ensure that those personal records are destroyed immediately."
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