| WASHINGTON
- December 6 - Sarah Brady, Chair of the
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, issued the following
statement today in response to this morning's front-page article in
The New York Times about Attorney General John D. Ashcroft's
decision to bar the FBI from checking records to determine whether
any of the 1,200 people detained after Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
had bought guns.
"John Ashcroft's decision to prevent the FBI from checking gun
records is proof of what we have said since he was first nominated
to become Attorney General: he is beholden to the gun lobby and he
places his allegiance to them above the best interests of the
United States.
"Since Sept. 11, the Attorney General has resolutely sought new
and sometimes controversial measures to track possible terrorists
in the United States - from detaining and questioning immigrants,
to monitoring lawyer-client conversations of suspected terrorists
and relaxing the F.B.I.'s 25-year-old guidelines barring
surveillance of religious and domestic political groups. Yet
today's article clearly points out the one area where the Attorney
General has not been aggressive in the battle against terrorism:
using and strengthening our nation's gun laws to capture these
terrorists.
"It is absurd that he would use every possible tool to
investigate these suspects, except using existing records to
determine whether they bought guns.
"He contends that current law bars the use of background check
records in law enforcement investigations, citing privacy concerns.
But that is in direct contradiction to what FBI officials have
said: that it is permissible to check the records if someone who
had been approved to buy a gun should not have been allowed to,
including immigrants who are not permanent residents or citizens.
"FBI and other law enforcement officials are dumbfounded and
frustrated by this outrageous roadblock. How can they be expected
to protect homeland security when the Attorney General strips them
of critical tools they need and have specifically requested?
"And if the Attorney General truly believes the FBI is
prohibited from using these background check records, why didn't he
seek to change that in anti-terrorism legislation he recently
proposed? How can he justify allowing such a serious restriction on
the FBI's investigative powers?
"When pressed on this point by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)
at a hearing this morning on whether he would propose legislation
specifically granting this authority to the FBI, Mr. Ashcroft
evasively replied: 'I won't comment on any specific legislation in
the hypothetical. I'd be happy to consider any legislation that you
would propose.'
"Amazingly, the one gun law proposal that Mr. Ashcroft has made
-- to destroy the background check records after 24 hours instead of
the current 90 days -- would weaken our nation's firearms laws and
deprive law enforcement of an important resource.
"The Attorney General should use and seek every possible tool to
determine whether potential terrorists have been obtaining weapons
in the United States. Our national security demands it."
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