I don't know about you guys, but we think this is scary stuff.

Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants the Department of Justice to keep personal data on law-abiding gun buyers from the National Instant Check System (NICS), and to offer the information for unlimited use by state and local agencies.

National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre called the move "gun owner registration, plain and simple."

Making good on a promise he made during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing December 6, Schumer introduced the "Use NICS in Terrorist Investigations Act" (S. 1788) after Attorney General John Ashcroft refused to allow the FBI access to NICS records of lawful gun purchases.

Schumer introduced the bill one day after Ashcroft explained that he was merely obeying the law Congress had passed.

"The law which provided for the development of the NICS, the National Instant Check System, indicates that the only permissible use for the National Instant Check System is to audit the maintenance of that system," Ashcroft responded. "The Department of Justice is committed to following the law."

Ashcroft also reminded the senators that NICS records from any illegal attempt to purchase a weapon, whether by a convicted felon, a terrorist, an illegal alien, or a person with a history of mental illness, are maintained indefinitely, and completely available to police.

But Schumer, along with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and five other co-sponsors, dismissed Ashcroft's explanation and offered the "Use NICS in Terrorist Investigations Act" in response.

Despite the bill's title, the language of the proposal makes no reference to terrorist investigations, and no limits are placed on the use of the information.

The proposal would "allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to access NICS audit log records for the purpose of responding to an inquiry from any federal, state, or local law enforcement agency in connection with a civil or criminal law enforcement investigation."

It would require DOJ to maintain the records of lawful gun purchases "in no event fewer than 90 days after the date on which the licensee first contacts the system with respect to the transfer." Present federal law and Department policy require the records to be destroyed within 24 hours of a purchaser's approval.

The rest of the article: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200112\NAT20011217a.html :

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001

Answers

Don't ask me why it was posted twice. Don't have a clue. Sorry about that.

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001.