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http://www.nssf.org/news/PR_idx.cfm?PRloc=common/PR/&PR=051106.cfm
Firearm Manufacturers Challenge
Baseless Conclusion of Antigun Group Report
TO: ALL MEDIA
For immediate release
May 11, 2006
For more information contact:
Lawrence G. Keane
(203) 426-1320
Firearm Manufacturers Challenge
Baseless Conclusion of Antigun Group Report
NEWTOWN, Conn.—The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry's trade association, called the conclusions of a gun tracing report issued by an antigun group "ludicrous" and referred those who want an unbiased explanation about the relevance of trace data to the real experts, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane dismissed "Without a Trace," a report published by the antigun lobbying group the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. "'Without a Trace' shows antigun groups are without a clue. This so-called report is the last gasp of a desperate extremist group that remains intent on pursuing junk lawsuits against a critical U.S. industry—despite the clearly stated will of the American people through the actions of Congress and state legislatures to block such lawsuits."
Keane noted that ATF has said that gun traces "indicate only that a gun has come to the attention of law enforcement. They do not automatically implicate a dealer or purchaser in any wrongdoing."
Keane cited countless statements of support for maintaining restrictions on the release of ATF gun trace data, saying, "Law enforcement supports the restrictions. ATF supports the restrictions. Congress and the President support the restrictions. The only people who want to lift the restrictions are the lawyers at gun ban groups, and New York City Mayor Bloomberg. Ironically, Bloomberg's own police commissioner, Ray Kelly, supports the restrictions, too."
"You don't have to ask us, ask the experts," said Keane, citing the following quotes and documents that support restricting the release of trace data to the public:
• A letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft from Ray Kelly, New York City Police Commissioner, August 19, 2002:
"The prospect that information obtained through these traces might be available for release by request to ATF under the Freedom of Information Act is therefore quite disturbing. ... I wholeheartedly support ATF's efforts to protect and preserve the confidentiality of firearms trace records and information.
"[Public disclosure of the data] clearly would be catastrophic for law enforcement, would compromise national security, and would signal the end of the trace program, as law enforcement agencies would no longer be able to rely on the current ability to share critical information confidentially."
• An Industry – ATF meeting, June 25, 2003:
Former ATF Director Brad Buckles acknowledged to industry in a June 25, 2003 meeting that trace data had been misused in civil litigation to draw erroneous conclusions by using it for purposes other than the law enforcement purposes for which ATF collects the data.
• ATF Press Release, July 16, 2003:
ATF criticized an earlier Brady Center report purporting to identify "bad apple" dealers based merely on trace results, calling it "misleading to suggest that a gun dealer is corrupt because a large percentage of the guns sold in his store are subsequently used in crime. Many other factors—including high volume of sales, the type of inventory carried, and whether the gun is located in a high-crime area—contribute to the percentages cited by the Brady Campaign. ... Gun traces, for example, indicate only that a gun has come to the attention of law enforcement. They do not automatically implicate a dealer or purchaser in any wrongdoing."
• ATF – NYPD Memo of Understanding, July 28, 2003:
Within days of the ATF press release, NYPD Police Commissioner Kelly signed a memo of understanding with ATF in which he acknowledged that the disclosure of firearms trace information "can reasonably be expected to interfere with pending investigations or prospective law enforcement proceedings. This law enforcement sensitive information includes data that can link a traced firearm to: the location of a crime, the Federal firearms licensee; retail purchaser or possessor of a traced firearm; or to firearms trafficking patterns involving a traced firearm."
• U.S. House Report 108-576, Departments of Commerce, Justice and State, the Judiciary, and related Agencies Appropriation Bill, Fiscal Year 2005, p. 30:
"It is of great concern that releases have occurred, and if repeated, may result in the wide-spread disclosure of this information to the public at large. This holds the potential of endangering law enforcement officers and witnesses, jeopardizing ongoing criminal investigations and homeland security ... In addition, such information, once released, might easily be disseminated through the Internet. This would endanger law enforcement and homeland security, and violate the privacy of innocent citizens and businesses."
• Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act
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Firearm Manufacturers Challenge
Baseless Conclusion of Antigun Group Report
TO: ALL MEDIA
For immediate release
May 11, 2006
For more information contact:
Lawrence G. Keane
(203) 426-1320
Firearm Manufacturers Challenge
Baseless Conclusion of Antigun Group Report
NEWTOWN, Conn.—The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry's trade association, called the conclusions of a gun tracing report issued by an antigun group "ludicrous" and referred those who want an unbiased explanation about the relevance of trace data to the real experts, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane dismissed "Without a Trace," a report published by the antigun lobbying group the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. "'Without a Trace' shows antigun groups are without a clue. This so-called report is the last gasp of a desperate extremist group that remains intent on pursuing junk lawsuits against a critical U.S. industry—despite the clearly stated will of the American people through the actions of Congress and state legislatures to block such lawsuits."
Keane noted that ATF has said that gun traces "indicate only that a gun has come to the attention of law enforcement. They do not automatically implicate a dealer or purchaser in any wrongdoing."
Keane cited countless statements of support for maintaining restrictions on the release of ATF gun trace data, saying, "Law enforcement supports the restrictions. ATF supports the restrictions. Congress and the President support the restrictions. The only people who want to lift the restrictions are the lawyers at gun ban groups, and New York City Mayor Bloomberg. Ironically, Bloomberg's own police commissioner, Ray Kelly, supports the restrictions, too."
"You don't have to ask us, ask the experts," said Keane, citing the following quotes and documents that support restricting the release of trace data to the public:
• A letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft from Ray Kelly, New York City Police Commissioner, August 19, 2002:
"The prospect that information obtained through these traces might be available for release by request to ATF under the Freedom of Information Act is therefore quite disturbing. ... I wholeheartedly support ATF's efforts to protect and preserve the confidentiality of firearms trace records and information.
"[Public disclosure of the data] clearly would be catastrophic for law enforcement, would compromise national security, and would signal the end of the trace program, as law enforcement agencies would no longer be able to rely on the current ability to share critical information confidentially."
• An Industry – ATF meeting, June 25, 2003:
Former ATF Director Brad Buckles acknowledged to industry in a June 25, 2003 meeting that trace data had been misused in civil litigation to draw erroneous conclusions by using it for purposes other than the law enforcement purposes for which ATF collects the data.
• ATF Press Release, July 16, 2003:
ATF criticized an earlier Brady Center report purporting to identify "bad apple" dealers based merely on trace results, calling it "misleading to suggest that a gun dealer is corrupt because a large percentage of the guns sold in his store are subsequently used in crime. Many other factors—including high volume of sales, the type of inventory carried, and whether the gun is located in a high-crime area—contribute to the percentages cited by the Brady Campaign. ... Gun traces, for example, indicate only that a gun has come to the attention of law enforcement. They do not automatically implicate a dealer or purchaser in any wrongdoing."
• ATF – NYPD Memo of Understanding, July 28, 2003:
Within days of the ATF press release, NYPD Police Commissioner Kelly signed a memo of understanding with ATF in which he acknowledged that the disclosure of firearms trace information "can reasonably be expected to interfere with pending investigations or prospective law enforcement proceedings. This law enforcement sensitive information includes data that can link a traced firearm to: the location of a crime, the Federal firearms licensee; retail purchaser or possessor of a traced firearm; or to firearms trafficking patterns involving a traced firearm."
• U.S. House Report 108-576, Departments of Commerce, Justice and State, the Judiciary, and related Agencies Appropriation Bill, Fiscal Year 2005, p. 30:
"It is of great concern that releases have occurred, and if repeated, may result in the wide-spread disclosure of this information to the public at large. This holds the potential of endangering law enforcement officers and witnesses, jeopardizing ongoing criminal investigations and homeland security ... In addition, such information, once released, might easily be disseminated through the Internet. This would endanger law enforcement and homeland security, and violate the privacy of innocent citizens and businesses."
• Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act
-