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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12673-2003May19.html?nav=hptoc_n
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12673-2003May19.html?nav=hptoc_n
Report Finds Gaps In Firearm Laws
Rules May Leave Opening for Terrorists
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 20, 2003; Page A02
U.S. gun laws can easily be exploited by international terrorist operatives, who can obtain assault-style firearms or explosives by taking advantage of delays and loopholes in the federal gun control system, according to a Congressional Research Service report to be released today.
The report found that government agents who conduct background checks on prospective gun buyers do not look at international terrorist watch lists routinely used at border crossings and airports.
In addition, federal law allows foreign visitors to the United States to purchase firearms after they have resided in the United States for 90 days, and makes it possible for terrorists to stockpile "long guns" and explosives without triggering any notification to law enforcement, according to the study, requested by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.).
"Foreign terrorists could exploit, and appear to have exploited in limited cases, the general availability of firearms in the United States to carry out terrorist attacks," the report said.
U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials have warned since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that operatives affiliated with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups have sought to take advantage of the availability of firearms in the United States.
An al Qaeda training manual recovered by U.S. forces in Afghanistan urged followers to "train for jihad" at U.S. firing ranges and shooting clubs. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the FBI has arrested a Michigan felon who purchased weapons at a gun show for the Hezbollah terrorist group and a Seattle man accused of seeking to set up a firearms training camp for al Qaeda in Oregon.
Lautenberg, who has introduced legislation aimed at keeping suspected terrorists from obtaining firearms, said in a statement yesterday that the Justice Department is not taking the threat seriously enough.
"After 9/11, Americans stood in long lines at airports giving up their toenail clippers, while the Bush administration has done nothing to prevent terrorists from acquiring military-style weapons and explosives," he said. "If we are serious about shoring up homeland security, we cannot ignore this any longer."
Justice spokeswoman Barbara Comstock said she could not comment on the congressional study without reviewing it. But she said Attorney General John D. Ashcroft "is making gun prosecution of all kinds a top priority. . . . Anyone who has a gun who's not supposed to have it, we're working to identify them and prosecute them and put them in jail."
Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association (NRA), said he could not comment on the report because his organization had not seen it.
The study by Congress's research arm comes amid considerable debate on Capitol Hill over other gun control issues. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) predicted last week that the GOP-led House will allow a 1994 ban on semiautomatic assault weapons to expire next year, despite President Bush's longtime support for the measure. Lawmakers are also considering legislation, supported by the NRA, that would offer new legal protections to businesses that sell and make guns.
A study released last week by Americans for Gun Safety, which favors stricter oversight of gun purchases, said federal authorities ignored most gun crimes and rarely prosecuted gun traffickers or corrupt gun stores. Justice Department officials disputed some details of the study and said gun prosecutions had increased significantly under Project Safe Neighborhoods, a federal initiative announced two years ago.
The congressional study to be released today details nearly a dozen loopholes or gaps in federal firearms laws that terrorists could exploit. Several of the issues identified in the report center on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which is designed to prevent felons and other prohibited purchasers from obtaining firearms.
According to the report, the system does not include a check of terrorist watch lists maintained by the State Department. Law enforcement officials said they hope to rectify that problem soon and said they already check the names of gun buyers against other databases that include terrorists. The report also found that, because the background checks are based on names only, terrorists can easily circumvent the system by using false identification.
The study's author, analyst William Crouse, also noted that Ashcroft has advocated destroying gun records immediately after a legal purchase, rather than retaining them for audit purposes, and forbade the FBI from searching purchase records for suspected terrorists after the Sept. 11 attacks. Ashcroft has said in both cases that he was seeking to uphold the Brady Act, which created the system.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
