cuchulainn
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from The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.)
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031121/NEWS/311210322/1036
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031121/NEWS/311210322/1036
Published Friday, November 21, 2003
Ashcroft's Odd Interpretation
The Washington Post reported this week that the FBI launched a new background-check system for its counterterrorism agents. When suspected terrorists try to purchase a gun -- but are denied for some reason -- the FBI is permitted to investigate the purchasers.
But if a terrorist is successful in making the purchase, counterterrorist agents are not notified. A Justice Department official issued a written statement explaining the policy: "Being a suspected member of a terrorist organization doesn't disqualify a person from owning a gun any more than being under investigation for a nonterrorism felony would."
That policy is in place because of Attorney General John Ashcroft. He's the same John Ashcroft who told a congressional hearing less than two weeks after the terrorist attacks in 2001: "It's our position at the Justice Department and the position of this administration that we need to unleash every possible tool in the fight against terrorism and to do so promptly."
Gun checks aren't among the tools Ashcroft, a longtime member of the National Rifle Association, wants to use.
"This policy is mind-boggling," Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., told The Post. "We could have a nationwide lookout for a known terrorist within our borders, but if he obtained a weapon, the Justice Department's policy is to refuse to reveal his location to law-enforcement officials."
Tuesday, Lautenberg introduced a bill requiring the Justice Department to tell law-enforcement officials when someone listed as a suspected terrorist buys a gun.
Lautenberg said Ashcroft is making too strict an interpretation of the Brady gun-control law that restricts information about gun purchasers. By doing so, said Lautenberg, the attorney general appears to be "taking specific steps to protect the rights of terrorists to obtain guns."
In December 2001, Ashcroft told a congressional panel that it was "my belief that the United States Congress specifically outlaws and bans the use of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System database, and that's the use of approved purchase records, for weapons checks on possible terrorists or on anyone else."
The policy is in direct conflict with the department's official interpretation of the law, according to a department memo obtained by the Public Broadcasting Service. After reviewing the Brady Law, department officials said, "We see nothing in the NICS regulations that prohibits the FBI from deriving additional benefits from checking audit log records."
When Ashcroft's interpretation first emerged in late 2001, Sarah Brady, chief promoter of the Brady Law, said Ashcroft had been forceful when going after terrorists. But she said she found it "absurd that he would use every possible tool to investigate these suspects, except using existing records to determine whether they bought guns."
She added that if Ashcroft believed the FBI was prohibited from using these background records, "why didn't he seek to change that in anti-terrorism legislation?"
If Ashcroft doesn't see a need for change, Congress should do it for him.
Copyright 2003 The Ledger