[ZekeLuvs1911]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/90655p-82435c.html

Another emotional unthought out anti article.

[Mr. James]

The column:

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com

ATF outgunned by NRA

Monday, June 9th, 2003

In this age of terror and mad bombers and criminals armed to the fangs, the mission of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has become even more critical. Yet the agency is far less effective than it could and should be. One might even call it gun-shy. And that's being kind.


Part of the blame can be laid at the feet of the GOP, because Republicans in the Bush administration and Congress delight in doing the dirty work of the National Rifle Association. Each year, the NRA pressures Congress to cut the ATF's budget. As former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton observed in '98: "The NRA has strenuously opposed increased financing for the bureau and has successfully lobbied against giving it the authority to quickly investigate the origins of gun sales."


This year, it's even worse. Congress has compelled the ATF to keep secret the identities of illegal gun sellers. In February, thanks to a rider that Rep. George Nethercutt Jr. (R-Wash.) slipped into a spending bill, gun sale statistics were exempted from the Freedom of Information Act. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is trying to undo this law because, he says, it shields from public scrutiny gun dealers who sell to criminals.


It's bad enough the ATF keeps the information from the public, but now it is limiting the data provided to police. The NYPD's gun task force still works closely with the ATF and apparently has not been affected by the policy change. But elsewhere cops have been having trouble with firearms tracing.


Joe Vince, former head of the ATF's tracing center, told this page that before President Bush came into office, the bureau gave law enforcement as much information as possible about firearms used in crimes: the manufacturer, the distributor, the retailer, the buyer, how many other weapons the customer bought, etc., etc. That sort of information - particularly knowing whether a suspect purchased multiple guns - saves lives. Now, the ATF tells cops only who bought the specific gun in question and where and when. That's all, folks.


This fits nicely into the NRA's crusade to chip away at the ATF's effectiveness. The mainstay of that quest was the 1986 McClure-Volkmer Act, which blasted huge loopholes into the gun control laws. Previously, only authorized dealers had been permitted to sell firearms at gun shows. McClure-Volkmer lifted that reasonable restriction. It also limited the ATF to one - one! - unannounced inspection of a gun dealer per year. It raised the burden of proof for breaking federal gun laws. It deprived the ATF of the authority to fine lawbreaking retailers or to suspend their licenses. And it made the shuttering of crooked gun shops a long and tedious process.


The ATF is slowly bleeding out, thanks to the NRA and its cronies in Congress. Additionally, the assault weapons ban is in danger of expiring. And lawsuits against unscrupulous firearms dealers are likely to be banned. How any of this keeps America safe is beyond the comprehension of anyone but the gun-huggers - and the politicians held in their thrall.


We need a pit-bull ATF. What we've got is an NRA lapdog.

[ed: off-topic blog about the Florida Muslim driver's license photo deleted]

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[El Tejon]

If only BATFE were bleeding out!!!:)

[Kharn]

Joe Vince, former head of the ATF's tracing center, told this page that before President Bush came into office, the bureau gave law enforcement as much information as possible about firearms used in crimes: the manufacturer, the distributor, the retailer, the buyer, how many other weapons the customer bought, etc., etc. That sort of information - particularly knowing whether a suspect purchased multiple guns - saves lives.
So the ATF was breaking the law by having an illegal registry & giving out info they werent supposed to have and now they follow the law slightly more closely, your point?

It also limited the ATF to one - one! - unannounced inspection of a gun dealer per year.
So what? If they want to talk a second time in a 12 month period, they need to either make an appointment or get a warrant. The law was written that way due to the ATF being a total and complete pain in the :cuss: to law-abiding persons during the 1970s and early 1980s, which was totally unacceptable to anyone that cared to read about the abuses.

Kharn

[Robert inOregon]

.....particularly knowing whether a suspect purchased multiple guns..

For a long winded whine, this is the only statement that has got officials in cities like NYC underwear in a bunch.

[bogie]

You know, the thing reads like it was written by an ATF PR guy...

[JohnBT]

Another attack on the NRA?

I've read better attacks on the NRA on THR.

John

[tiberius]

If what he says is true, then it sounds like the NRA is doing what I am paying them for.