Drizzt
February 27, 2003, 04:36 PM
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
February 27, 2003 Thursday Home Edition
SECTION: Editorial; Pg. 15A
LENGTH: 673 words
HEADLINE: CAPITOL WATCH: Plug loophole in gun policy
BYLINE: JAY BOOKMAN
SOURCE: AJC
BODY:
Thanks to the U.S. Justice Department, a gaping hole now exists in Georgia's gun-purchase background check that endangers the physical safety of every Georgian.
Every month, that loophole allows hundreds of people arrested --- but not yet tried --- for felony charges such as assault, rape, murder, attempted murder, burglary and auto theft to walk into any gun store in the state and walk out fully armed with the latest in firearm technology.
Until last July, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation would temporarily bar such people from buying weapons until the charges against them had been resolved. Given the serious and often violent nature of many felony charges, that seemed an eminently wise and common sense approach.
In fact, it's startling to learn how many people ran afoul of that policy.
In 2001, 5,520 people facing trial on felony charges tried to buy guns but were denied permission when their names popped up during a background check. Felony arrest was, in fact, the largest single reason for denial, accounting for almost 65 percent of the 8,545 gun-purchase denials in Georgia that year, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
But no longer.
In a letter to the GBI dated Jan. 16, 2002, the Justice Department warned Georgia officials that under the U.S. attorney general's interpretation of federal law, the state had no right to deny gun purchases to those charged with, but not convicted of, a felony. The letter also hinted that there would be consequences if the state did not change its policy.
"The Sanctions Subcommittee and the [Advisory Policy Board] are very interested in the status of any corrective action the GBI takes on this issue," the letter stated.
"They threatened us," recalls GBI spokesman John Bankhead. "We didn't ask what they would do to us because we didn't want to know, but they threatened us."
As a result, the GBI dropped its policy in July 2002. The effect was immediate. In June, 340 people were denied permission to buy a gun for "felony-related" reasons. In July, that number fell to 97. The numbers for 2001, the last full year the old policy was in place, suggest that on any given day, Monday through Saturday, an average of 17 or 18 people facing felony charges are now given permission to buy a gun.
Under the new policy, according to Bankhead, agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms now have to be sent to confiscate weapons from those who bought them while charged with a felony and who are later convicted or plead guilty.
Fortunately, the loophole can be closed if Georgia officials move quickly enough. The GBI would be able to resume its pre-2002 policy with a simple change in state law giving the agency explicit permission to delay gun purchases to those charged with a felony until their case is resolved. The provision could even be drawn more narrowly than past policy by limiting it to those charged with violent or drug-related crime.
The law could have --- and should have --- been changed to that effect last year, because state officials clearly knew by then that their policy was threatened by the feds. But no attempt was made to address the problem, perhaps in part because it was an election year and gun bills are always controversial in the Georgia Legislature.
This year, however, the same thing is happening, which means nothing is happening. Once again, no bill has been introduced, and the legislative session is more than half over.
In an interview last week, Gov. Sonny Perdue said he would support the needed change in state law. Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association in Fairfax, Va., said his group would take no stance on the issue until it could see the wording of a bill.
The Justice Department caused the initial problem, but state officials, by declining so far to fix it, now bear the responsibility for arming alleged felons.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That whole 'innocent until proven guilty' can be such a pain, sometimes...
February 27, 2003 Thursday Home Edition
SECTION: Editorial; Pg. 15A
LENGTH: 673 words
HEADLINE: CAPITOL WATCH: Plug loophole in gun policy
BYLINE: JAY BOOKMAN
SOURCE: AJC
BODY:
Thanks to the U.S. Justice Department, a gaping hole now exists in Georgia's gun-purchase background check that endangers the physical safety of every Georgian.
Every month, that loophole allows hundreds of people arrested --- but not yet tried --- for felony charges such as assault, rape, murder, attempted murder, burglary and auto theft to walk into any gun store in the state and walk out fully armed with the latest in firearm technology.
Until last July, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation would temporarily bar such people from buying weapons until the charges against them had been resolved. Given the serious and often violent nature of many felony charges, that seemed an eminently wise and common sense approach.
In fact, it's startling to learn how many people ran afoul of that policy.
In 2001, 5,520 people facing trial on felony charges tried to buy guns but were denied permission when their names popped up during a background check. Felony arrest was, in fact, the largest single reason for denial, accounting for almost 65 percent of the 8,545 gun-purchase denials in Georgia that year, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
But no longer.
In a letter to the GBI dated Jan. 16, 2002, the Justice Department warned Georgia officials that under the U.S. attorney general's interpretation of federal law, the state had no right to deny gun purchases to those charged with, but not convicted of, a felony. The letter also hinted that there would be consequences if the state did not change its policy.
"The Sanctions Subcommittee and the [Advisory Policy Board] are very interested in the status of any corrective action the GBI takes on this issue," the letter stated.
"They threatened us," recalls GBI spokesman John Bankhead. "We didn't ask what they would do to us because we didn't want to know, but they threatened us."
As a result, the GBI dropped its policy in July 2002. The effect was immediate. In June, 340 people were denied permission to buy a gun for "felony-related" reasons. In July, that number fell to 97. The numbers for 2001, the last full year the old policy was in place, suggest that on any given day, Monday through Saturday, an average of 17 or 18 people facing felony charges are now given permission to buy a gun.
Under the new policy, according to Bankhead, agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms now have to be sent to confiscate weapons from those who bought them while charged with a felony and who are later convicted or plead guilty.
Fortunately, the loophole can be closed if Georgia officials move quickly enough. The GBI would be able to resume its pre-2002 policy with a simple change in state law giving the agency explicit permission to delay gun purchases to those charged with a felony until their case is resolved. The provision could even be drawn more narrowly than past policy by limiting it to those charged with violent or drug-related crime.
The law could have --- and should have --- been changed to that effect last year, because state officials clearly knew by then that their policy was threatened by the feds. But no attempt was made to address the problem, perhaps in part because it was an election year and gun bills are always controversial in the Georgia Legislature.
This year, however, the same thing is happening, which means nothing is happening. Once again, no bill has been introduced, and the legislative session is more than half over.
In an interview last week, Gov. Sonny Perdue said he would support the needed change in state law. Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association in Fairfax, Va., said his group would take no stance on the issue until it could see the wording of a bill.
The Justice Department caused the initial problem, but state officials, by declining so far to fix it, now bear the responsibility for arming alleged felons.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That whole 'innocent until proven guilty' can be such a pain, sometimes...