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Breaking News from America's Progressive Community... 1999
Releases
The press releases posted here have been provided to NewsCenter by the one of the many progressive organizations we have selected to participate. If you would like more information about this press release, you should contact the organization directly. |
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| FEBRUARY
2, 1999 3:34 PM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Handgun Control Naomi Paiss of Handgun Control Inc., 202-289-5784 |
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| NRA Attempt to Subvert National Instant Criminal Background Check System Suffers Setback | ||||
| WASHINGTON
- February 2 - On January 26, the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) motion for preliminary
injunction against the Justice Department’s implementation of the National
Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) was denied in United States
District Court. Holding that that the NRA had not "demonstrated a
reasonable likelihood of success on the merits," Judge James Robertson
denied the NRA’s request that the Justice Department be forced to destroy NICS
records immediately once a gun sale had been approved.
On November 30, 1998, the day that NICS went into operation, the NRA filed a suit against the Justice Department for retaining NICS records for up to six months (NRA v. Reno). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which operates NICS, had announced it intended to keep the records for up to six months in order to make sure the system was working properly. The NRA sought a preliminary injunction which would have forced the government to destroy a NICS record as soon as a prospective gun sale was approved. They claimed that the retention of records constitutes "registration" of gun owners and violates the law. Judge Robertson disagreed, saying that the NRA had not "demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits," nor had it shown that the government’s policy caused a hardship that outweighed the cost to the government of dismantling its system. An injunction against the retention of records would have forced a shutdown of NICS and the temporary cessation of background checks on handgun purchasers. NICS is a fully-integrated system that is designed to work in tandem with other automated databases and to provide support for a broad range of law-enforcement objectives, including fingerprint identification. Redesigning the software in order to comply with an order to destroy records immediately would have taken an estimated four to six months to accomplish. During that time, all federal background checks on handgun purchases would have been suspended and criminals would have been able to walk into any gun store in 22 states and buy a handgun, confident that no background check would be conducted. In addition, the destruction of records requirement would have imperiled the long-term success of the system. Without the ability to retain records, the FBI would have been unable to monitor the performance of the system from a technical aspect (e.g. determining whether criminals are using false identification to pass the name-based check) as well as to make sure that the system is not being used for unauthorized background checks. "The Justice Department spent much time and money putting NICS into place," said Bob Walker, President of Handgun Control, Inc. "It has a responsibility to the American taxpayer to make sure that the system is functioning properly. The NRA’s paranoid claims of gun registration are ludicrous. Retaining the records for six months is not only in the interest of fiscal responsibility but also in the interest of public safety." Ironically, by filing their suit, the NRA is seeking to further undermine the very system for which they lobbied five years ago. During the debate over the Brady Bill, the original proposal mandated a waiting period and background check for all handgun purchasers. Unable to block passage of the legislation in the face of a tidal wave of public support, the NRA’s allies in Congress were able to amend the legislation to require a mandatory "sunset" of the waiting period in five years, to be replaced by a computerized national instant check system. However, even before NICS went into operation, the NRA began a campaign to subvert the system. In October, their allies in Congress, led by Senator Robert Smith (R-NH), prohibited the FBI from charging a nominal user fee for each NICS transaction. Resorting to a cynical scare tactic, the NRA called the fee a "gun tax," where in reality, the minimal fee was no different than fees for drivers’ licenses, car registration and hunting licenses. The fees would have been used to maintain the NICS system, but now will have to be absorbed by American taxpayers, whether they own guns or not. With its lawsuit unlikely to succeed, the NRA is now calling on Congress to force the FBI to destroy NICS records immediately. "From its very conception, the national ‘instant check’ system has been the gun lobby’s baby, the NRA’s alternative to a 5-day waiting period and a background check by state and local officials," said Mr. Walker. "First, the gun lobby prevented the FBI from charging a nominal fee for the background checks -- in effect, defunding the system. And now, by attempting to require the immediate destruction of NICS records, the NRA is trying to prevent the FBI from ensuring the system even works properly. One has to wonder about the NRA’s commitment to public safety when it is trying to smother its own creation in its crib." # # # Handgun Control, Inc., chaired by Sarah Brady, is the nation’s largest citizens’ gun control lobbying organization. Based in Washington, DC, HCI works to enact stronger federal, state and local gun control laws, but does not seek to ban handguns. Founded in 1974, HCI has more than 400,000 members nationwide and works with local groups around the country to enact and protect reasonable gun control laws. |
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