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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: puborectalis who wrote (156373)	6/28/2001 7:15:19 PM
From: ColtonGang	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 769667

Why doesn't Bush and Ashcroft sport side holsters so they can really be western law officers............Bush wants to change gun-record laws - - - - - - - - - - - - By Karen Gullo June 28, 2001 \| WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration moved Thursday to sharply restrict the amount of time that gun-purchasers' instant-background-check records can be kept by the government. In a move assailed by gun-control advocates as a gift to the National Rifle Association, Attorney General John Ashcroft said the administration would propose that such records be held for just one business day after a sale. Currently, such records may be held by governmental and law enforcement agencies for up to 180 days. Next week, that time frame will be halved -- to 90 days -- under a Clinton administration rule that the new administration did not challenge. But the attorney general said Thursday the administration intends to propose in the Federal Register that the holding time be restricted to a single day. "We believe we can have that kind of accurate auditing in a very quick time frame," he told a news conference. "The intent of the law is to protect the privacy of legitimate gun purchasers" and to have the ability to audit gun purchase records to check for fraud and abuse. The proposal is one of several that Ashcroft said he was taking to improve the instant-background check system required under provisions of the Brady law. He also ordered a review to determine whether records are missing from the background check system. Gun control groups and Democrats criticized the changes, saying they would weaken the landmark Brady law and would make it more likely that people prohibited from buying guns would get them. "Ashcroft's priorities clearly lie with pleasing the National Rifle Association, not protecting the American public," said Mathew Nosanchuk, director of litigation for the Violence Policy Center. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, called it "another example of the Bush administration's catering to the gun lobby." The National Rifle Association has vehemently opposed the government's policy of keeping such records, saying it amounts to compiling a national registry of gun owners. The NRA sued the Justice Department to have the records disposed of immediately after the background checks were conducted. The suit was dismissed, and the Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal. On Thursday, the NRA called Ashcroft's move a "step in the right direction." "The federal government has no business keeping files of personal information on lawful Americans who clear the NICS (instant background) check," said James J. Baker, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said the move would weaken the ability of law enforcement authorities to track down criminals. Ashcroft, while a U.S. senator representing Missouri, voted in favor of an amendment that sought instant destruction of background check documents. The amendment was defeated. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System electronically checks millions of law enforcement records while gun buyers are waiting to make their purchases. Felons, drug users, people subject to domestic violence restraining orders are among those prohibited from buying guns. About 70 percent of the checks take about 30 seconds. A small number take longer, possibly days, to allow more time to contact state and local authorities to check records. About 95 percent of all checks are done within two hours. More than 18 million checks have been conducted since the background check system began in November 1998. Over 156,000 people have been denied guns as a result of the checks; 66 percent of those denied were felons, according to the FBI. After the checks are completed, records have been kept to give the FBI time to look for fraud and abuse in the gun-purchasing system. Audits have uncovered instances in which dealers have tried to sell guns without conducting background checks, the FBI has said. They also have helped in identifying possible "straw purchases," where individuals buy guns for people who have been denied purchases. The information generated from background checks is automatically purged from system within the time allowed by regulation, the FBI says. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act requires gun sellers to request background checks on individuals attempting to purchase firearms. The law is named after James Brady, press secretary to President Reagan who was shot in the head and permanently disabled during an assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981. Ashcroft had angered pro gun-control elements earlier this year when - in a letter to the NRA - he reasserted his belief that the Constitution guarantees people the right to own guns. The Clinton administration Justice Department took the view that the Founding Fathers mostly intended that states have the right to keep and bear arms for their own protection.