Policy Would Reduce Time Records Are Kept
by Cheryl W. Thompson, Washington Post
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) yesterday called on the Justice Department to withdraw a proposal that would sharply reduce the length of time that gun transaction records are kept. Durbin claimed that shortening the time from 90 days to 24 hours would “have a serious negative effect” on keeping guns out of the hands of felons and terrorists.
In a letter to Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, Durbin said that a preliminary examination of National Instant Check System records by the General Accounting Office found that destroying records after one business day “could inhibit” police from retrieving firearms from people who should not have been allowed to buy them.
“The Justice Department’s proposed rule clearly would jeopardize the FBI’s ability to adequately enforce existing gun laws,” Durbin wrote. “Destruction of this background information after less than 24 hours could leave more than 300 guns each year in the hands of individuals who should never have been allowed to have them in the first place.”
Ashcroft announced in June that he would drastically reduce the time that records are kept. He has argued that accurate auditing of records can occur in a day. The attorney general’s proposal, developed with input from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, has won the support of the National Rifle Association, which opposes retaining records for any period.
But the preliminary GAO examination found that records kept more than one day but less than 90 days were used to initiate more than 100 firearm retrieval actions during four months last year, according to the FBI.
“This information proves what we have said all along: NICS performs a critical function -- ensuring that criminals and other prohibited purchasers do not get guns,” said Michael D. Barnes, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “We call on Attorney General Ashcroft to do the right thing and immediately withdraw his proposal.”
Justice Department officials, who have not finalized the measure, did not return a telephone call yesterday seeking comment. Ashcroft can change the policy without legislation.
NICS, operated by the FBI and state governments, is used to check the law enforcement records of gun buyers. It was mandated by the Brady Law, named for James Brady, President Ronald Reagan’s press secretary who was wounded by a bullet during an attempt to assassinate the president in 1981. The Brady Law and its background checks have stopped nearly 690,000 criminals and others from buying guns.