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Change in ATF trace requests: Fact versus fiction
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Cyberspace experienced a ripple after Politico implied that the National Rifle Association (NRA) had climbed into bed with Baron Bloomberg and his Mayors Against Guns:
The National Rifle Association and big-city mayors have rarely agreed on gun laws. But they’ve found something they may both support: the Obama administration’s call for full law-enforcement access to data from traces of guns used in crimes.
However, a warning flag raised when a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial claimed that President Obama caved in to the mythical gun lobby:
Now, Obama has taken a pass on repealing the Bush-era laws that shield gun traffickers and their suppliers. In cities such as Philadelphia and Camden, that's like reaffirming a death sentence for the hundreds of people slain each year by gunfire.
The author cites Brady Campaign’s Paul Helmke as their expert witness:
"This policy has allowed guns to remain in the hands of hundreds of criminals," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Of course, Hemlke is an expert in knowing how to keep guns in the hands of criminals: As Mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Helmke presided over a violent crime wave completely out of step with both Indiana’s and the nation’s drastic decreases. Judging from his track record, it seems reasonable that if he says something will reduce crime, the opposite is true.
The truth about the Tiahrt Amendment
The above quotes refer to federal legislation named after Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-Kansas) which regulates the use of firearms trace data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Under existing law, police can request a trace of any gun that comes into their hands for any reason, but this doesn’t mean that every trace is related to a violent or property crime investigation. For example, police may trace a firearm listed as “found.” The ATF trace summary reports listed over 19,000 trace requests from years 2006-2007 where no reason was provided.
(Trace requests require a crime code, as noted in the ATF trace request form, so it is possible that during processing, the crime code was not entered, but this did not stop the ATF from processing the request.)
In fact, it appears that the proposed change allows sharing of trace data for purposes of more general investigations. For example, Austin Police Department could examine trace data that doesn’t relate to a specific crime under investigation, in order to analyze possible patterns that result in arrest of a suspected gun trafficker.
Following are excerpts from page 745 of the proposed Fiscal Year 2010 budget for the ATF:
Provided further, That, beginning in fiscal year 2009 and thereafter, no funds appropriated under this or any other Act may be used to disclose part or all of the contents of the Firearms Trace System database…except to: (1) a Federal, State, local, or tribal[, or foreign] law enforcement agency, or a Federal, State, or local prosecutor[,solely in connection with and for use in a criminal investigation or prosecution]; or (2) a foreign law enforcement agency solely in connection with or for use in a criminal investigation or prosecution; or (3) a Federal agency for a national security or intelligence purpose; unless such disclosure of such data to any of the entities described in (1), (2) or (3) of this proviso would compromise the identity of any undercover law enforcement officer or confidential informant, or interfere with any case under investigation; and no person or entity described in (1), (2) or (3) shall knowlingly [sic] and publicly disclose such data; and all such data shall be immune from legal process, shall not be subject to subpoena or other discovery, shall be inadmissible in evidence, and shall not be used, relied on, or disclosed in any manner, nor shall testimony or other evidence be permitted based on the data, in a civil action in any State (including the District of Columbia) or Federal court or in an administrative proceeding…except that this proviso shall not be construed to prevent…the sharing or exchange of such information among and between Federal, State, local, or foreign law enforcement agencies, Federal, State, or local prosecutors, and Federal national security, intelligence, or counterterrorism officials … [Emphasis added]
Bottom line:
· Law enforcement agencies can share trace data amongst themselves.
· The ban remains on using trace data for litigation against firearms manufacturers and sellers.
· Brady and billionaire Bloomberg can’t go on fishing expeditions in an attempt to create a backdoor gun ban by litigating firearms manufacturers into bankruptcy. Thus the sour grapes.
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For in-depth analysis of the creative marketing used by anti-rights politicians and organizations like the Brady Campaign, read Four Hundred Years of Gun Control: Why Isn’t It Working?, which deconstructs the gun control agenda and motivates more people to support our civil right of self-defense.
Check out other Gun Rights Examiners:
- Atlanta: Restaurant with anti-gun policy saved by a gun
- Austin: Rumors of ammunition ban: true or false?
- Boston: Massachusetts SJC rules on dangerousness of gun possession
- Charlotte: New information on Patriot Act detention of Ashton Lundeby
- Cleveland: Second Amendment March seeks redress of grievances
- DC: NATO doctrine in effect: open carry rights in Wisconsin under attack!
- Denver: Why liberals should get a gun permit
- Los Angeles: Gun Control: The GOP asks what to do, Part I
- Milwaukee: Milwaukee Police Chief Flynn bullies gun owners
- Minneapolis: Are gun owners facing a ‘perfect storm’?
- National: Gun law-related stories need to substantiate claims
- Seattle: Public safety ‘crossroads’ in King County may reflect statewide, national problem on magnum scale
- St. Louis: Gun laws and unintended consequences
- Wisconsin: Sheboygan County district attorney backs VanHollen
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