Washington, DC�The Violence Policy Center (VPC) applauded the introduction
today of a bill sponsored by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Charles
Schumer (D-NY) that would require the retention for a 90-day period of
approved firearm purchase records generated by the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System (NICS). The retained records are used to audit
the background check system to make sure it works effectively and is not
being misused. The audit log serves an important law enforcement function
and is the key tool in preventing people prohibited from buying guns from
using fake IDs or other unlawful means to clear background checks. Without
the audit log, the FBI also cannot protect the privacy of all Americans,
because there is no way to detect whether a dealer or anyone else is accessing
NICS to run unauthorized checks on friends and neighbors.
The Kennedy-Schumer bill would simply maintain a Justice Department rule
finalized by the Clinton Administration in January 2001. Attorney General
John Ashcroft twice suspended the rule unlawfully and then announced he
was gutting it by requiring the destruction of records within a maximum
of 24 hours. Ashcroft's proposal came just three days after the Supreme
Court upheld the authority of the Justice Department to retain the records.
The VPC also supports the efforts of Senators Schumer and Kennedy to
obtain information from the Department of Justice that will shed light
on how this arbitrary new rule was developed.
VPC Litigation Director and Legislative Counsel Mathew Nosanchuk states,"The
Kennedy-Schumer 90-day retention bill will help ensure the effective operation
of NICS. Unfortunately, Attorney General Ashcroft has proposed to substitute
an NRA-endorsed scheme for the 90 days necessary to audit the system.
The Ashcroft rule will put guns into the hands of criminals, wife beaters,
and the mentally disturbed�guaranteed."
