FBI's checks on gun buyers will be kept only 24 hours
Posted: Wednesday, November 26, 2003
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Background checks on gun buyers would be retained for just 24 hours, instead of the current 90 days, under a deal Republicans struck during final negotiations over an immense spending bill funding dozens of federal agencies.
The $373 billion spending bill, which combines seven overdue annual spending bills, carries the changed rules for background checks that were first proposed in 2001 by Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Gun rights groups, such as the National Rifle Association, say keeping the records raises privacy concerns. Gun control advocates say destroying the records after 24 hours will hamper federal officials trying to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.
The spending bill still has not been approved.
The Senate on Tuesday did approve and send to the president a 10-year extension of legislation that bans the manufacture, sale and possession of firearms that cannot be detected by airport metal detectors or X-ray machines.
Since people can't bring firearms onto planes or government buildings, "it only makes sense that we ensure that the firearms purchased in this country are detectable by the security machines in these places," said a sponsor, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.
As for the gun buyers' records, the National Instant Criminal Background Check system, also called NICS, electronically checks law enforcement records while buyers wait to purchase firearms. The check is meant to keep guns out of the hands of felons, drug users and others barred from owning firearms.
Chris Cox, the NRA's chief lobbyist, called the agreement to destroy the records after 24 hours "a big step in the right direction," adding that the government can still trace guns mistakenly sold to felons and others through records that must be kept by federally licensed firearm dealers.
"Records on law-abiding Americans should be destroyed," he said.
Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said government auditors concluded last year that the FBI would not be able to go back and trace fraudulent transactions or mistaken approvals if the records are destroyed too quickly.
"It's paranoia, frankly, right-wing paranoia that fuels this sense that these records need to be quickly destroyed," he said. "There is no sensible, sound public policy reason to destroy these records quickly."
Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., asked whether the new rules would make it easier for a terrorist to sneak through a background check undetected.
"This is not a step that infringes on an American's right to bear arms," he said. "At a time when we are in a heightened state of alert for terrorist attack, should we not provide law enforcement with more than 24 hours to examine information on weapons' purchases?
This summer, the Justice Department reported that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was asked to retrieve 3,429 weapons that should not have been sold in 2002. The NICS did more than 4.2 million background checks during that time.
The $373 billion spending bill, which combines seven overdue annual spending bills, carries the changed rules for background checks that were first proposed in 2001 by Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Gun rights groups, such as the National Rifle Association, say keeping the records raises privacy concerns. Gun control advocates say destroying the records after 24 hours will hamper federal officials trying to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.
The spending bill still has not been approved.
The Senate on Tuesday did approve and send to the president a 10-year extension of legislation that bans the manufacture, sale and possession of firearms that cannot be detected by airport metal detectors or X-ray machines.
Since people can't bring firearms onto planes or government buildings, "it only makes sense that we ensure that the firearms purchased in this country are detectable by the security machines in these places," said a sponsor, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.
As for the gun buyers' records, the National Instant Criminal Background Check system, also called NICS, electronically checks law enforcement records while buyers wait to purchase firearms. The check is meant to keep guns out of the hands of felons, drug users and others barred from owning firearms.
Chris Cox, the NRA's chief lobbyist, called the agreement to destroy the records after 24 hours "a big step in the right direction," adding that the government can still trace guns mistakenly sold to felons and others through records that must be kept by federally licensed firearm dealers.
"Records on law-abiding Americans should be destroyed," he said.
Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said government auditors concluded last year that the FBI would not be able to go back and trace fraudulent transactions or mistaken approvals if the records are destroyed too quickly.
"It's paranoia, frankly, right-wing paranoia that fuels this sense that these records need to be quickly destroyed," he said. "There is no sensible, sound public policy reason to destroy these records quickly."
Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., asked whether the new rules would make it easier for a terrorist to sneak through a background check undetected.
"This is not a step that infringes on an American's right to bear arms," he said. "At a time when we are in a heightened state of alert for terrorist attack, should we not provide law enforcement with more than 24 hours to examine information on weapons' purchases?
This summer, the Justice Department reported that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was asked to retrieve 3,429 weapons that should not have been sold in 2002. The NICS did more than 4.2 million background checks during that time.
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